Napa Valley College faculty members are participating in an exciting new speaker series which will offer something for everyone.
“Contemporary Conversations with Napa Valley College Faculty,” sponsored by the Napa Valley College Foundation, is free and open to the public. Different faculty members will address a contemporary issue in their field of study.
“When Policies Become Prisons: How Interests & Ideas from the Past become Impediments to Our Future” will be the topic for Dr. John Liscano, Napa Valley College professor and chair of the Social Sciences Division, Thursday, April 21 at 7 p.m. The talk will be held in the Silvagni Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, on the Napa campus.
“Consider a point in time when significant international or domestic changes compel a society to adopt sweeping policies (and the institutions necessary to implement them) in order to accommodate this new world. What happens when subsequent changes make it necessary for a society to alter policy course again and yet the institutions from the past, and the interests and ideas that have become an appendage to them, constrain a society’s ability to change direction? What happens when the constraints prove too strong?” he asks. “Using a political economy perspective, I’ll examine these questions with regard to policy areas such as education, economics, demography, and foreign policy.”
Liscano earned his B.A. from the University of California, Irvine and his M.A. and Ph. D. from University of California, Santa Barbara.
For reservations or more information, contact the NVC Foundation at 707-253-3374.
Watch for announcements of future spring presentations.