W&L After Class Podcast Releases New Episode Featuring Rob Fure "W&L After Class" invites listeners to join conversations with W&L's expert faculty about their teaching, research and passion projects.

By Kelsey Goodwin
July 5, 2023

Washington and Lee University invites listeners to tune into a new episode of “W&L After Class” featuring Rob Fure, outgoing director of Lifelong Learning, who retired in June 2023 after 46 years of service to the university. In this episode, hosted by Associate Director of Lifelong Learning Ruth Candler, Fure discusses his work in bringing the university community together in the spirit of lifelong learning. He offers listeners a look back at his time at W&L and reflects on the ways in which the university has expanded its educational mission through creative and connective programs, faculty collaboration and alumni engagement.

Fure joined Washington and Lee’s faculty in 1977 after earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in English and American literature from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1981, he designed an administrative structure for non-traditional education programs and was asked to oversee its implementation by then-president Robert E. R. Huntley ’50, ’57L, planting the seed for the university’s current Office of Lifelong Learning. Fure went on to establish the Alumni College, an immersive summer program on campus for W&L alumni and parents to learn about various topics from W&L faculty, and the W&L Traveller Program, an educational travel program connecting participants with faculty. The Office of Lifelong Learning currently oversees a diverse array of offerings for members and friends of the university community to engage with its educational mission, including the podcast.

The podcast series, which began in the spring of 2020, invites listeners to experience conversations with W&L’s expert faculty, giving listeners worldwide a chance to stroll the Colonnade in the comfort of their homes. W&L faculty members discuss their teaching, research and special interests. Previous topics include poetry, witches, cybersecurity, theater and free speech. The podcast’s fourth season launched on Feb. 14, 2023, with an episode featuring James Dick, W&L’s director of outdoor education and recreation, discussing his experiential education and leadership development work on campus. The most recent episode featured Jeff Schatten, associate professor of business administration at Washington and Lee’s Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics, addressing artificial intelligence and its potential future impact in higher education and beyond.

Listeners are invited to experience past “W&L After Class” episodes here or wherever they listen to podcasts.