The interventions at Harvard University, the closing of the International and Foreign Language Education office in the Department of Education, indeed the goal to close the Department of Education altogether, are only part of a larger agenda to reshape higher education in the United States. On April 28, 2025, this ValEUs Panel Discussion brought together a panel of experts who answered questions about transformations underway and how they represent broader goals of the Trump Whitehouse.
Moderator & Panellists
Randall Halle
Moderator
Randall Halle is the ValEUs Project Lead at the University of Pittsburgh where he directs the European Studies Center and is Klaus W. Jonas Professor of German Film and Cultural Studies. Professor Halle's research and teaching focuses on European film, EU cultural and media policy, and the role of Europe in the world.
Kyaien O. Conner
Panellist
Dr. Kyaien Conner, Ph.D., LSW, MPH Professor and Donald M. Henderson Endowed Chair, Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems (CRSP) and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research investigates the factors that influence disparities in health and mental health service utilization and treatment outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities.
Michael Goodhart
Panellist
Michael Goodhart is Professor of Political Science and of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also Professor (by courtesy) of Philosophy and a faculty fellow in the University Honors College. Goodhart's core research interests include democracy, human rights, (in)justice, and emancipatory political struggles.
Paul Johnson
Panellist
Paul matriculated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 with a degree in political science and has become an Associate Professor at its Department of Education. His work takes a critical approach, grounded in an appreciation of the structural dynamics of the United States that inform much of our contemporary moment.
Erica Edwards
Panellist
Dr. Erica Edwards is the Associate Director of the European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Her teaching and research interests are in the fields of comparative politics, political parties and party systems, governance and politics of the European Union, and public opinion.
