Education Studies 352 - The Purposes and Politics of Education

(Offered as EDST 352, AMST 352 and SOCI 352) This course serves as the foundational course for the Educational Studies major. Public education has been a fundamental social good in the United States for hundreds of years. It has also been an object of significant disagreement. What should be the goals of education? Who should have access to education and who should control that education? These questions raise even more basic questions. What sorts of things are valuable for human beings? How does a just society distribute the goods that it produces? What role should citizens play in a democracy, and what sort of education do they need in order to play that role effectively? How does education differ from indoctrination? In this class, students will consider these questions and examine how education scholars in a variety of disciplines (sociology, philosophy, history, and economics) have attempted to answer them.

Limited to 20 students. Spring semester.  Professor Gentzler and Professor McLeod.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority will go to majors in Education Studies, and then to majors in Sociology and American Studies. Then we will prioritize according to seniority.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Emphasis on written work, readings, independent research, group work