"Opening Minds and Closing Gaps" Lecture at GCC

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Charles Scruggs, GCC's associate professor of history

BATAVIA, NY (09/28/2015)(readMedia)-- The first lecture under the yearlong theme of education around the world will be presented by Charles Scruggs, Genesee Community College's associate professor of history, on Thursday, October 1, 2015 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in T102 of the Conable Technology Building at the Batavia campus. Professor Scruggs' lecture is entitled, "Opening Minds and Closing Gaps: Education Around the World – An Exploration of Truths, Trends and Traps."

His lecture will cover comparative educational systems, which has long been a topic of interest to Professor Scruggs. As a 10-year-old student in the Newnham Croft School in Cambridge, England, Scruggs and his two siblings were exposed to an educational system that felt both familiar and strange triggering his early awareness and curiosity of educational differences. This interest grew with the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983 when he was in high school, and through his studies at Princeton University and SUNY Albany's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs. His lecture will explore how nations in today's global community are seeking to legitimize their educational systems by employing international assessments while also importing best practices. Overall, Scruggs will review how educational success is as multifaceted as our multicultural world, and therefore varies greatly and is often difficult to define.

GCC's Global Education Committee decided to focus on "Education Around the World" to explore and review one of the most critical issues facing the world's burgeoning population. The yearlong program is still in development, but the next event in the series will be a panel discussion entitled, "Education: It's Your Right! Is it Everyone's?" scheduled for Thursday, October 22, 12:30-2 p.m. The educational systems and school experiences of GCC students, faculty and special guests representing Nigeria, Jamaica, Honduras, Jordan, Puerto Rico and other countries will be reviewed.

"This year, GCC is delighted to be welcoming the largest population of international students in the College's history," Dr. Karin Kovach-Allen said. "Focusing on "Education Around the World" couldn't be more appropriate for the Global Education Committee. We plan to share many critical and exciting facets of this topic with the community through the year." All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Marketing Communications Associate Director Donna Rae Sutherland at (585) 343-0055 ext. 6616, or via email: dsutherland@genesee.edu.

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Editor's Note: Photograph of Charles Scruggs is available here:

http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/charles_scruggs.jpg