Middle-Class Insecurity: 'Unequal at the Start' Presented at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Professor Jennifer L. Erkulwater of the University of Richmond will present "Unequal at the Start: Education Policy and the Politics of Middle-Class Insecurity" at Washington College's Hynson Lounge on Wednesday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m.

Dr. Erkulwater's lecture is being presented by the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs.

Dr. Erkulwater is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Richmond. She received her B.A. from Rhodes College in 1995, and her Ph.D. from Boston College in 2001.

She came to UR after completing a fellowship at the Brookings Institution, the Washington, D.C.-based policy institute. She researches the American welfare state, disability policy and politics, and education. She was the winner of the 2002 Heinz Award given by the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Dr. Erkulwater is the author of Disability Rights and the American Social Safety Net (Cornell University Press, 2006). Yale Law School Sterling Professor of Law Jerry L. Mashaw praised the book, stating, "Jennifer L. Erkulwater has a particularly fine understanding of the interplay among congressional, bureaucratic, and judicial politics in the creation of modern social welfare programs. Her story of the expansion of disability rights weaves these threads together in a way that has not been done before."

The Louis L. Goldstein Program in Public Affairs was established in 1990 to encourage students to enter public service by introducing them to exemplary leaders, both in and out of government. The Goldstein Program has hosted journalists, political activists, foreign policy analysts, diplomats, military commanders and government officials of both national and international stature.

The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, student participation in models and conferences, and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders experienced in developing public policy.

Hynson Lounge is located in Hodson Hall. Admission to "Unequal at the Start" is free and open to the public.

March 11, 2008