2009 Scholarly Conference
SUNY & the Promise of Public Higher Education in America
A Scholarly Conference on SUNY’s 60th Anniversary
April 3 – 5, 2009
University at Albany
"If you want to preview the American university of the 21st century, look at what is happening in higher education at SUNY today."
-- Governor Nelson Rockefeller, 1968
State university systems have propelled the daring American experiment in “mass higher education,” an ideal spreading around the world. Although the Empire State was the last to create a State University system, the SUNY has evolved into the nation’s largest, currently enrolling more than 450,000 students. After a hesitant beginning, it became a leader in public higher education in the 1960s. Today, its 64 campuses provide wide access, a plethora of academic programs, vital public service, and cutting-edge research. The New York State Commission on Higher Education has challenged SUNY to take a leading role in reviving the State’s economy and shaping an informed and productive citizenry.
The 60th Anniversary of SUNY’s founding creates an ideal opportunity to assess the history of this multi-faceted organization. The Scholarly Conference on SUNY’s 60th Anniversary seeks to promote research that examines SUNY in the context of New York State’s political, economic, social, and cultural history. In addition, it encourages scholars to place SUNY’s development in the context of other national and international models. Further, the conference will consider the archival and historiographical issues inherent in the preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of SUNY’s and other state systems’ histories.
Toward the goals of raising SUNY’s profile on historians’ horizon and informing a new generation of New Yorkers about their university, the conference papers will generate a book to be published by the SUNY Press. All papers will be eligible for inclusion in this scholarly volume.
The Program Committee invites papers that analyze the significance of New York’s state system, and the phenomenon of state systems of higher education from varied perspectives. It is especially interested in papers that critically examine the extent to which SUNY, in particular, and state systems in general, have defined, approached, and fulfilled their mission to broaden access to higher education and to bring social and economic benefits to their citizens, their states, the nation, and beyond. Please see “Suggested Topics.”
Paper proposals are due by May 15, 2008. They should include an abstract of 250-500 words and a one-page vita, including your current postal and e-mail addresses. The proposal and vita should be sent as a single attachment [Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file] in an e-mail message to the Program Committee at: scholarly.conference@suny.edu. Please put “SUNY History Conference Proposal” in the subject line of your e-mail message.
The Program Committee offers the following possible topics and sessions. This list is only suggestive and other topics are invited: View Suggested Topics
Authors of successful proposals will be notified by June 1, 2008. In order to promote discussion at the conference, completed papers will be due by February 1, 2009 to allow circulation to commentators. Please address questions and inquiries to: scholarly.conference@suny.edu.