Master of Arts in Educational Foundations with a socio-cultural studies emphasis
Focus
Students in our Educational Foundations program will explore the socio-cultural and philosophical contexts of educational practice.
Flexible, interdisciplinary and individualized
Each student is encouraged to meet with a faculty advisor to design a program to study specific educational problems. Because educational issues tend to be complex, interdisciplinary inquiry is often a part of this concentration. The size of this program is controlled, providing students with a personally and professionally meaningful experience.
Our program mission is to help students:
- Develop skills necessary for ongoing critical inquiry concerning ways that educational aims and practices reflect and emerge from taken-for-granted cultural assumptions as well as formal institutional and political policies.
- Develop an understanding of the ways professional aims and practices are embedded in institutions and reflect their socio-historical contexts and cultural assumptions;
- Increase awareness of historically pertinent and current issues related to schooling;
- Develop an understanding of moral and political assumptions that affect schooling, and how these shape political relationships, particularly with regard to social justice and environmental sustainability;
- Expand and refine academic discipline-based skills.
Requirements and Curriculum
View detailed course descriptions in Graduate Catalog
Core Courses (9 credits)
- ED 6010 Intro to Research in Educational Settings
- ES 6330 Education and Human Flourishing
- ES 6340 Culture and Politics of Educational Institutions
Program Concentration (9 credits)
Students can take a variety of courses in and outside the department related to their chosen concentration. Courses can include:
- ES 6030 Sociological and Philosophical Foundations
- ES 6300 History of US Education
- ES 6730 Class, Ethnicity, Gender in Education
- ES 6750 Multicultural Education
- ED 6980 Special Topics
- ES 5850 Social Justice and Community Organizing
Curriculum Studies (3 credits)
- ED 6280 Curriculum Theory
- ED 6020 School Curriculum
Electives (6 credits)
- Advisor approved graduate courses, normally from outside the department, which support a particular scholarly interest
Masters Thesis or Capstone (3-6 credits)
- ED 7000 Masters Thesis
- ED 6790 Capstone Project
Admissions
Apply now
Applicants are asked to include some program-specific information, with a summary for these requirements found below:
Applicants are encouraged to bookmark this information for quick reference while working through the graduate application process.
Application assistance may be obtained by contacting Emily Morrison.
Documents and Resources
- Application for permission to elect
- Capstone
- Course substitution
- ED 5980—Application to elect an independent study
- Graduate program change
- Notification of appointment to a dissertation, project or thesis committee
- Program planning sheet (to be completed with a faculty advisor)
Helpful Links
- Graduation Process Information and Deadlines
- Master Thesis Forms and Deadlines
- Writing Center
- Library Services for Graduate Students
Our Faculty
Educational Foundations faculty
For more information on this program, potential career paths or additional resources:
- Paul Farber, Professor
- Jill Hermann-Wilmarth, Professor
- Tetyana Koshmanova, Professor
- Dini Metro-Roland, Associate Professor (Coordinator)
- James Muchmore, Professor