• EDUC 110: Introduction to Educational Studies

    This course will focus on education as a multidisciplinary field of study. We will explore the meanings of education within individual lives and institutional contexts, learn to critically examine the assumptions that writers, psychologists, sociologists and philosophers bring to the study of education, and read texts from a variety of disciplines. What has “education” meant in the past? What does “education” mean in contemporary American society? What might “education” mean to people with differing circumstances and perspectives? And what should “education” mean in the future? Open only to first-and second-year students. 6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Social Inquiry, Writing Requirement; offered Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024 · Anita Chikkatur, Ryan Oto
  • EDUC 138: Multicultural Education

    This course examines the historical and contemporary issues surrounding the concept of “multicultural education.” The course focuses on the respect for human diversity, especially as these relate to various racial, cultural and economic groups, and to women. It includes lectures and discussions intended to deepen students’ understandings of what it means to live in a multicultural society. Offered at both the 100 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly. Students who have previously taken a 100- or 200-level Educational Studies course should register for EDUC 338; students who have not taken a previous Educational Studies course should register for EDUC 138.

    6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Social Inquiry; offered Fall 2023 · Ryan Oto
  • EDUC 225: Issues in Urban Education

    This course is an introduction to urban education in the United States. Course readings and discussion will focus on various perspectives in the field in order to understand the key issues and debates confronting urban schools. We will examine historical, political, economic, and socio-cultural frameworks for understanding urban schools, students and teachers. Through course readings, field visits and class discussions, we explore the following: (1) student, teacher and researcher perspectives on urban education, (2) the broader sociopolitical urban context of K-12 schooling in cities, (3) teaching and learning in urban settings and (4) ideas about re-imagining urban education.

    not offered 2023–2024
  • EDUC 234: Educational Psychology

    Human development and learning theories are studied in relation to the teaching-learning process and the sociocultural contexts of schools. Three hours outside of class per week are devoted to observing learning activities in public school elementary and secondary classrooms and working with students. 6 credits; Social Inquiry; offered Fall 2023 · Deborah Appleman
  • EDUC 245: School Reform: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

    This course explores major issues in the history of school reform in the United States, with an emphasis on the twentieth century. Readings and discussions examine the role of education in American society, the various and often competing goals of school reformers, and the dynamics of educational change. With particular focus on the American high school, this course looks at why so much reform has produced so little change.

    6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Social Inquiry; offered Winter 2024 · Ryan Oto
  • EDUC 250: Fixing Schools: Politics and Policy in American Education

    How can we fix American public schools? What is “broken” about our schools? How should they be repaired? And who should lead the fix? This course will examine the two leading contemporary educational reform movements: accountability and school choice. With an emphasis on the nature of the teaching profession and the work of foundations, this course will analyze the policy agendas of different reform groups, exploring the dynamic interactions among the many different stakeholders responsible for shaping American education.

    6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Social Inquiry; offered Fall 2023 · Ryan Oto
  • EDUC 262: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning in Diverse Classrooms

    This course focuses on the importance of integrating students’ cultural backgrounds in all aspects of learning. We will study various theoretical perspectives on culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining pedagogy and will explore several school sites that incorporate that perspective into their approach to teaching and learning. Students will design and teach culturally sustaining curriculum from their own disciplinary background in K-16 setting.

    Prerequisites: Educational Studies 100 or 110 6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Social Inquiry; offered Spring 2024 · Deborah Appleman
  • EDUC 325: Democracy, Schools, and Power

    One of the foundational elements of an ideal democratic society is an educated and informed public. Simultaneously, the maintenance of power in society demands control over what and how the public is educated. This class examines how schools in the U.S. serve both as sites of promoting democratic life and ideals as well as reproducing social, political, and economic oppression. Throughout the class, we will explore the relationships, tensions, and contradictions between schools, power, and democracy with the goal of answering whether schools can protect and save democracy.

    6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Does not fulfill a curricular exploration requirement, Writing Requirement; offered Spring 2024 · Ryan Oto
  • EDUC 330: Refugee and Immigrant Experiences in Faribault, MN

    This course will examine the intersection of immigration and education at all levels in rural communities in the U.S. with a site-specific focus on Faribault, MN. Through readings, primary document analyses, discussions, written assignments, and virtual dialogues with community collaborators, students will understand the challenges and opportunities in Faribault for people with refugee and immigrant backgrounds and for educators and community members working with those communities to create supportive contexts (including educational, social, economic, political) that meet the needs and aspirations of those communities.

    Prerequisites: 100 or 200 level Educational Studies course or instructor consent not offered 2023–2024
  • EDUC 338: Multicultural Education

    This course focuses on the respect for human diversity, especially as these relate to various racial, cultural and economic groups, and to women. It includes lectures and discussions intended to aid students in relating to a wide variety of persons, cultures, and life styles. Offered at both the 100 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly.

    Prerequisites: 100 or 200-level Educational Studies course or instructor permission 6 credits; Intercultural Domestic Studies, Social Inquiry; offered Fall 2023, Spring 2024 · Anita Chikkatur, Ryan Oto
  • EDUC 340: Race, Immigration, and Schools

    This course explores the important role that public schools have played in the American national imagination as the way to socialize students about what it means to be American and to prepare them to participate as citizens in a democracy. Focusing on two periods of high rates of immigration into the United States (1890-1920 and 1965-present), the course examines how public schools have attempted to Americanize newly arrived immigrant children as well as to socialize racial minority children into the American mainstream. While most of the readings will focus on urban schools, the course will also consider the growing immigrant populations in rural schools through readings and applied academic civic engagement projects.

    Prerequisites: 100 or 200-level Educational Studies course or instructor permission not offered 2023–2024
  • EDUC 344: Teenage Wasteland: Adolescence and the American High School

    Is adolescence real or invented? How does the American high school affect the nature of American adolescence? How does adolescence affect the characteristics of middle and high schools? In addition to treating the concept historically, this interdisciplinary course focuses on psychological, sociological, and literary views of adolescence in and out of the classroom. We will also analyze how adolescence is represented in popular culture, including television, film, and music.

    Prerequisites: 100 or 200-level Educational Studies course not offered 2023–2024
  • EDUC 367: Culture Wars in the Classroom

    This course examines past and present school controversies, including school prayer, banned books, and student protests. Who controls the curriculum? How do we teach contentious issues such as evolution, racism, and climate change? To what extent do teachers and students enjoy the right to free expression? These are the kinds of questions “Culture Wars in the Classroom” will explore, as we consider the purpose of public education in a diverse, multicultural nation.

    Prerequisites: 100 or 200-level Educational Studies course or instructor consent not offered 2023–2024
  • EDUC 385: Schooling and Communities: A Practicum for Teacher Candidates

    This course permits licensure candidates to become more familiar with their student teaching sites through frequent observation and interaction. The course provides an opportunity to work directly in schools and community organizations related to schools and to reflect on that experience in a classroom setting.

    Prerequisites: Acceptance into Teacher Licensure Program and registration for fall student teaching 6 credits; Does not fulfill a curricular exploration requirement; offered Spring 2024 · Deborah Appleman
  • EDUC 395: Senior Seminar

    This is a capstone seminar for educational studies minors. It focuses on a contemporary issue in American education with a different topic each year. Recent seminars have focused on the school to prison pipeline, youth activism, intellectual freedom in schools, and gender and sexuality in education. Senior seminars often incorporate off campus work with public school students and teachers.

    Prerequisites: Educational Studies minor or instructor permission 6 credits; Does not fulfill a curricular exploration requirement; offered Spring 2024 · Anita Chikkatur