Education Reform Hosts Boston College Professor as Part of Friday Lecture Series

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Michael Hartney of Boston College

Michael Hartney, an assistant professor at Boston College, will speak at the U of A on Friday, Oct. 22.

His lecture is titled "Unmasked: How COVID-19 Revealed Painful Truths about America's Schools" and will be held at noon in Peabody Hall, room 307. The Friday lecture series is hosted by the Department of Education Reform in the U of A College of Education and Health Professions.

Hartney joined the Boston College political science faculty in fall 2017. Previously he was assistant professor of politics at Lake Forest College. Hartney's research and teaching interests include state and local government, interest groups, and public policy.

His scholarship has been published in leading academic journals, and his forthcoming book examines the causes and consequences of teacher union political power in the United States.

Hartney teaches courses on the politics of education, environmental politics and policy, and U.S. state and local politics. He is also a research affiliate at Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance. He is a national fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.   

Before academia, Hartney worked as a policy analyst for the National Governors Association. He provided technical analysis to governors on a wide range of K-12 education reform issues, from teacher and principal quality to high school redesign. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor's degree, also in political science, from Vanderbilt University.

Unless otherwise indicated, all lectures will be held at noon on Fridays in the Graduate Education Building, room 343. Please make sure to RSVP before 1 p.m. on the Wednesday before that week's event.

The 2021-22 lecture series and other information can be found on the education reform department's website.