Leonard Cassuto Suggests "Caretaking" Model for Higher Education

Fordham English Professor Leonard Cassuto presented this year's sixth annual English Department Inaugural Lecture on Wednesday, September 18th. The audience gathered for this event included approximately 100 students, faculty members, and University administrators in Walsh Library's Flom Auditorium, as well as participants joining via videoconference from the Lincoln Center campus. 

Leonard Cassuto offers the English Department's 2013 Inaugural Lecture, titled "Higher Education: In Search of an Ethic"

Cassuto addressed the topic of higher education's relationship with the broader community. He presented an overview of the changes to this relationship in past decades, concluding that the present "business" metaphor for higher education should be replaced with a model focused on "caretaking." One of his suggestions for how we can initiate this transformation is for individuals from within higher education (faculty and graduate students especially) to reach out to the wider community in order to foster closer "town and gown" relationships. 

After the lecture, Cassuto fielded many questions from the audience. The event concluded with a festive reception in the O'Hare Special Collections Room where lecture attendees continued to discuss the past, present, and future of higher education. 

For more details, see the feature story on the Fordham University site.