The Shepherd Consortium website now features videos of the speakers and discussion from the July 30 symposium on “Childhood Literacy as a Public Health and Economic Imperative.” The symposium, held at the Atlanta Speech School, features talks by Maryanne Wolf, John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service Director at the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University; Greg Duncan, Distinguished Professor in Education and Economics at the University of California, Irvine; Marcia Carlson, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin; and Walter Gilliam, Director of the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University.
These four nationally distinguished scholars represent different disciplines: a specialist on the brain and language development, an economist focused on assessment, a sociologist addressing families and policy; and an expert on child development and reading. They address different aspects of what we need to know to overcome this barrier to equal opportunity for children.
The SHECP website also includes a welcome from Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia. Governor Deal and the Georgia State Commissioner of Public Health, Barbara Fitzgerald, offer brief accounts their state’s initiatives to promote childhood literacy. A discussion among the four speakers and their answers to questions from the audience will also enrich our understanding of the challenge we confront.
These videos along with links to the speakers’ power points (Wolf, Duncan, Carlson, Gilliam) will enable faculty, students, and interested practitioners to benefit from these original talks and power points. SHECP offers these annual symposia on timely topics in poverty to promote classroom teaching, faculty and staff research, and student research. This symposium, with counsel and support from the Atlanta Speech School, also seeks to benefit practitioners in education and health seeking to advance childhood literacy by direct action.
The videos and power points are available to all visitors to the SHECP website in order to support their teaching, research, scholarship, and educational and public health practices. Viewers may also be interested in additional writings from the speakers, which they have recommended to enhance what we learn from their talks.
Comments