Listed in: American Studies, as AMST-352 | Anthropology and Sociology, as SOCI-352 | Black Studies, as BLST-351 | History, as HIST-352
Kristen V. Luschen (Section 01)
Hilary J. Moss (Section 01)
(Offered as HIST 352 [US/TC/TS], AMST 352, BLST 351, and SOCI 352) Focusing on the United States, this course introduces students to foundational questions and texts central to the history of education and education studies. We will explore the competing goals and priorities Americans have held for primary, secondary and post-secondary education and ask how and why these visions have influenced – or failed to influence – classrooms, schools, and educational policy. We will pay particular attention to sources of educational stratification; the tensions between the public and private purposes of schooling; and the relationship between schooling and equality. In the first part of the course, students will reflect on how Americans have imagined the purpose of self-education, literacy, public schooling, and the liberal arts. Among the questions we will consider: What do Americans want from public schools? Does education promote liberation? Has a liberal arts education outlived its usefulness? How has the organization of schools and school systems promoted some educational objectives in lieu of others? In the second section of the course, we will concentrate on the politics of schooling. Here, we will pay particular attention to several issues central to understanding educational inequality and its relationship to American politics, culture, and society: localism; state and federal authority; desegregation; and the complicated relationship between schooling and racial, linguistic, class-based, gender, and ethnic hierarchies. Finally, we will explore how competing ideas about the purpose and politics of education manifest themselves in current policy debates about privatization, charters, testing, and school discipline. Throughout the course, students will reflect on both the limits and possibilities of American schools to challenge and reconfigure the social order. Course assignments will consist of a mix of short papers and analytical reading exercises. One class meeting per week.
Limited to 20 students. Spring semester. Professor Moss.
If Overenrolled: Priority will go to students with a demonstrated interest in Education Studies, and then History and American Studies majors. Then we will prioritize sophomores, juniors, and first-year students, in that order.
Section 01
Tu 01:00 PM - 03:45 PM WEBS 217
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Someone Has to Fail: The Zero-Sum Game of Public Schooling | Harvard University Press | Labaree, David | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream | University of Chicago Press | Goldrick-Rabb, Sara | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| In Defense of Liberal Education | Norton | Zakaria, Fareed | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Marketing Schools, Maketing Cities: Who Wins and Who Loses When Schools Become Urban Amenities | University of Chicago Press | Cucchiara, Maia | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Five Miles Away, a World Apart | Oxford University Press | Ryan, James | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| We Want to Do More than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom | Beacon Press | Love, Bettina | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Importance of Being Urban: Designing the Progressive School District, 1890-1940 | University of Chicago Press | Gamson, David | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Students | Harvard University Press | Jack, Anthony | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Educated: A Memoir | Penguin | Westover, Tara | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.