Holy Cross Political Science Professor to Deliver Annual Lecture on Liberal Arts

Denise Schaeffer, associate professor of political science at Holy Cross and director of Montserrat, the College's living and learning program for all first-year students, will present this year’s Richard Rodino Lecture on the Aims of the Liberal Arts on April 3 at 4 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College. The talk, titled “Experience, Reflection, and the Tacit Dimension of a Liberal Arts Education,” is free and open to the public.

A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1995, Schaeffer specializes in political philosophy and has presented papers and given lectures in America and Europe, primarily about Rousseau and Plato. She is co-author of a commentary on Plato’s "Euthydemus," and has published numerous articles on the history of Western political thought.

In addition to several other fellowships and awards, Schaeffer was a recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for College Teachers in 1999. She has also served as chair of the political science department at Holy Cross and as section chair of the American Political Science Association’s Politics and Literature section. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College, and both a master’s and Ph.D. from Fordham University. She lives in Natick, Mass.

The annual Rodino Lecture series is devoted to the memory of Richard Rodino, formerly of the English department at Holy Cross.