(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - Nov. 7, 2012) - - - Regardless of one's politics, Social Security is one government program that seems to escape threats of cuts or demise. The historical reality is that the implementation of the program marked a revolution in the way in which the federal government would directly invest in social welfare. On Tuesday, Nov. 20 from 3:30-4:45 p.m., Columbia State Community College welcomes Dr. Edward Berkowitz of George Washington University for a look at the history and social policy implications of Social Security.

How the program moved from controversy to a political sacred entity is the subject of this lively and approachable lecture. The historical trail blazed by Social Security is thought by many to have been the single biggest move by the federal government to intervene in the economic lives of individual Americans. The social implications have been unprecedented as seniors of all socio-economic classes were able to retire independently of the support they might be able to receive from extended family and regardless of their individual planning for retirement. The inclusion of Medicare extended health security to seniors and subsequent moves to include other vulnerable populations such as the disabled has continued the expansion of the social mission.

Berkowitz is recognized as an expert in social policy. In addition to his faculty position at GWU, he has served as a consultant on various aspects of social welfare policy with such organizations as the Milbank Memorial Fund, The Century Foundation, theCommittee for Economic Development, the Hastings Center, the Health Insurance Association of America and as a White House Staff senior staff member of the President's Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties.

The public is invited to attend this lecture, which is being broadcast live from room 101 of the Williamson County Campus and can be attended via a live interactive broadcast on all five campuses. Locations to participate in the lecture are room 121 of the Hickman Building on the Columbia campus; room 112 of the Lawrence County campus; room104 of the Lewisburg campus; and room 105 of the Clifton campus.