The Department of Education Reform will bring a dozen lecturers to the University of Arkansas campus this academic year, as part of the department’s longstanding Distinguished Lecture Series. This fall will feature lectures on topics including arts integration, school choice, and alternative teacher certification. The lectures take place in Room 343 of the Graduate Education Building and are open to the public.

“The lecture series continues to be a fantastic tool for our students, faculty and community,” said professor Jay Greene, head of the Department of Education Reform. “Speakers are invited to the university based on their outstanding research accomplishments. This provides an opportunity for everyone to engage with leading researchers, and it provides an opportunity for visiting lecturers to learn about the work being done at the University of Arkansas.”

The lecture series is run by doctoral students and faculty in the department, who conduct research on many of the topics covered, and the visits to campus by the lecturers provide an opportunity for extensive discussion and possible collaboration among the researchers.

Thalia Goldstein, an assistant professor of psychology at Pace University in New York City, will deliver the first lecture at noon Friday, Sept. 12. Her topic is “Arts and Education: Drama, Theatre and Acting.” The lecture series website includes links to academic papers written by Goldstein.

A complimentary light lunch will be served. RSVP is required by 1 p.m. the Wednesday before the lecture and can be done online.

Other dates, presenters and topic information, when available:

• Oct. 3, Doug Harris, associate professor of economics and holder of an endowed chair in public education at Tulane University, “What Do Parents Want? School Choices of New Orleans Parents Before and After Hurricane Katrina.”
• Oct. 17, Raegen Miller, vice president of research partnerships for Teach For America, “TFA’s Disposition Toward External Research.”
• Oct. 31, Howard Bloom, chief social scientist for MDRC, an education and social policy research organization created in 1974 by the Ford Foundation, “Can Small High Schools of Choice Improve Educational Prospects for Disadvantaged Students?”
• Dec. 5, Allison Atteberry, a research assistant professor of education policy at the University of Virginia.
• Jan. 23, Benjamin Castleman, assistant professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia.
• Feb. 6, David Deming, assistant professor of education at Harvard University.
• Feb. 13, Will Dobbie, assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University.
• Feb. 20, Charles L. Glenn, professor of education at Boston University.
• March 6, Brian Gill, senior Fellow at Mathematica Policy Research.
• March 20, Sarah Reckhow, assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University.
• April 10, Beth Akers, a Fellow of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.