Former presidential candidate Al Gore will visit Tufts in two weeks as part of his effort to address the role of families in society at universities across the country. He will give a speech in Balch Arena Theatre on Friday, Sept. 14 and lead an all-day symposium the next day.
The speech is targeted at undergraduates and will focus on "family centered community building." The symposium, which will discuss youth development, is geared toward leading experts in child and family development and will be closed to the public.
Gore's visit was made possible by the efforts of child development professor Richard Lerner, who was a guest lecturer in the former vice president's classes last semester. Lerner, who arranged Gore's visit through the applied developmental science initiatives program, said the event is not political. "This is totally academic," he said. "[Gore] is a really gifted professor. I've never met anyone who is as quick a study about so many different issues and able to engage students," Lerner said.
For the past ten years, Gore has held an annual conference in Tennessee entitled the "Family Re-Union," which aims to redefine the role of family in society. Using his lectures, Gore is developing curriculum on family centered community building through a consortium of 19 universities - including Tufts, Columbia, and Cornell - called the National Community and Academic Consortium.
The Tufts event will be the first in a series of symposia that the consortium will hold throughout the year.
Lerner co-taught with Gore on the topic of development during pilot courses last semester at Fisk and Middle Tennessee State universities. These courses will ultimately evolve into a Masters program through the consortium.
At Tufts, Gore is looking for ideas to develop the program. "Gore is coming to campus to do the symposium on youth development... [and] to enhance the curriculum, for brainstorming," said Deborah Bobek, managing director of the applied developmental science initiatives program.
Only a small group of hand-selected students will attend the event. The Office of the Vice President of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering e-mailed department chairs and asked each to recommend five students to attend the speech. A faculty group including Susan Ernst, dean of natural and social sciences, Lerner, and assistant professor M. Ann Easterbrook, chair of the child development department, will select a certain number of students from that list to attend the speech.
The selection process is a "way to get as wide a net as possible," Ernst said. "We want students engaged and interested in this area."
Gore's visit represents Tufts' dedication to its students, said President-elect Larry Bacow.
"I think it's terrific that he's coming to Tufts," Bacow said. "I'm delighted that time has been set aside for him to meet with students," he said. "At a university that's committed to public service, I think it's terrific when major public figures come to visit."
