Looking Back & Looking Ahead: Policy Visions from the New Deal & Great Society

Convened by the Center for Social Policy of UMass Boston's
McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies

Held at UMass Boston Campus Center and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

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On April 10 and 11, 2007, the Center for Social Policy convened a two-day conference exploring policy visions from the New Deal and Great Society and their implications for today’s policy thinking. Titled, "Looking Back and Looking Ahead", this invitation-only forum convened policy actors and experts on/from the New Deal and Great Society eras. It took place at the University of Massachusetts Boston Campus Center and John F. Kennedy Library.

Keynote speaker, author Taylor Branch, began the conference, and was followed by panel presentations and discussions featuring an array of experts speaking on history, socio-economic issues, and education policies (see the agenda link for a list of speakers). Panelists were asked to showcase the visions that shaped the original intent of policies such as Social Security, antipoverty policies, or policies to equalize educational opportunity.

Participants included representatives from social and education policy organizations as well as civil society organizations involved in social justice. They partook in small group discussions reflecting on panelists’ presentations and drawing their own lessons for ways to frame current debates in their policy arena.

This unique gathering was sponsored by the C. S. Mott Foundation Pathways Out of Poverty program and directed by Françoise Carré, Research Director, for the Center for Social Policy at UMass Boston.