Rethinking Higher Ed for the 21st-Century Economy with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd

It's no secret that one of my, let's say, special interests is higher education. The reasons for this are at least threefold. First, I have a kid heading off to college next year. Second, I have past regrets and future fantasies about the academy. And third, the world of work and the realm of education overlap in myriad ways.

Work and education have always had a close relationship. Access to education influences access to different types of work. New forms of work influence how we organize and deliver education.

I've been talking about doing an episode or a series on the intersection of higher ed and work for... years now. Today, finally, I have an initial installment in what I hope is an ongoing, if nonsequential, look at how these two pillars of modern life influence each other.

Joining me to share both her professional insight and her personal journey is Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, a historian of education and the host of the American Campus Podcast.

Footnotes:

• Read an edited transcript of this conversation.
• Learn more about Lauren Lassabe Shepherd.
• Resistance from the Right by Lauren Lassabe Shepherd
• The Old is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born by Nancy Fraser
• "Adjunct professors deserve professional development" by Anna Conway and Thomas Tobin at Insight Higher Ed
• "An Army of Temps: AFT Adjunct Faculty Quality of Work/Life Report" 
• "The Secret Lives of Adjunct Professors" by Gila Berryman at Elle
• Justice Lewis Power Jr. and the Powell Memo on Wikipedia
• More about futurist Bryan Alexander
• More about Indigenous studies scholar Sandy Grande

Check out the American Campus Podcast:

• Mentioned in the Episode:
  • "The peak and decline of US higher ed with Bryan Alexander"
  • "How to get a job at Harvard in 1860 with prabhdeep kehal"
• A few personal favorites:
  • "Christianity, manhood, and college football with Hunter M. Hampton"
  • "The college bookstore racket with Katya Schwenk"
  • "The history of federal student loans with Elizabeth Tandy Shermer"

• (00:00) - Rethinking Higher Ed for the 21st-Century Economy with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd
• (00:03) - Cold Open
• (00:42) - Intro
• (53:31) - Outro

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What is What Works?

Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and creative spirit are used to enrich others and maintain the status quo. It's time for an intervention. What Works is a show about rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.