Master of Arts in Educational Foundations

Master of Arts in Educational Foundations with a socio-cultural studies emphasis

Socio-Cultural Studies of EducationFocus

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

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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

Helpful Links

Our Faculty

For more information on this program, potential career paths or additional resources: