Holy Cross Psychology Professor to Deliver Annual Rodino Lecture on Liberal Arts

WORCESTER, Mass. – Danuta Bukatko, Joseph H. Maguire '58 Professor in Education, professor of psychology and chair of the department of education, will give this year’s Richard Rodino Lecture on the Aims of the Liberal Arts on Tuesday, March 11 at 4 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The talk, titled “Changing the World: Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and the Liberal Arts” is free and open to the public.

In her talk, Bukatko will address the sometimes uneasy relationship between teacher education and the liberal arts curriculum. She will explore some of the reasons for these tensions, and argue that teacher education, as well as the discipline of education more broadly speaking, have goals that help us to realize the ideals of the liberal arts.

Bukatko, a resident of Harvard, Mass., holds academic degrees from Rutgers University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She joined the College in 1976 as an assistant professor of psychology. She served both as chair of that department from 1978 to 1984 and as a class dean from 1984 to 1990. From 2003-07, she was director of the women’s and gender studies program.

The first person to hold the title, Bukatko was appointed the Joseph H. Maguire ' 58 Professor in Education in August 2007.  The professorship is named for distinguished alumnus of the College, Joseph H. Maguire, who went on to serve for 39 years as a member of the education department and as a class dean.

Bukatko is the author of Child and Adolescent Development: A Chronological Approach (Houghton Mifflin, 2008) and is co-author with Marvin W. Daehler of Child Development: A Thematic Approach (Houghton Mifflin, fifth edition 2004). She has published journal articles and made presentations at professional meetings on several aspects of children’s cognition and gender-role development, a number of them co-authored with Holy Cross students.

The annual Rodino Lecture series is devoted to the memory of Richard Rodino, formerly of the English department at Holy Cross. He played a central role in launching the College’s First-Year Program. It is sponsored by the Office of the Dean and the First-Year Program.