Cultural Studies in Education
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
The Cultural Studies in Education (CSE) program is a critical interdisciplinary program that studies social, cultural, philosophical, and historical issues in education. The CSE program addresses social and cultural theory, as well as narrative, qualitative and ethnographic methods to study education. This graduate program approaches Cultural Studies in Education in a range of contexts from the funds of knowledge of family and community settings, to the social, cultural, political, economic, and contested struggles of public urban schooling.
CSE faculty and students recognize the power of alternative ways of knowing and being and stress the significance diversity plays in education. Students in this program explore the fundamental importance of racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation diversity in education. CSE faculty specialize in a broad range of topics in cultural studies such as:
- sociocultural knowledge and teaching,
- discourse,
- critical theory and pedagogy,
- contexts of activism in education,
- identity formation,
- agency,
- African American and Latina/o experiences in education,
- diasporic community knowledge,
- Indigenous knowledge systems, and
- globalization and education.
Faculty
Focuses on historical and contemporary issues and discourses concerning African American students in schools and society.
Creates scholarship based around teacher education, especially relating to race and culture.
Examines effects of race, class and capital in schools and society; investigates and extends traditions of critical pedagogy and philosophy.
Follows trends around cultural and racial identities, agency, migration, and social movements in education.
About Our Program
With a strong commitment to social justice, CSE continues to be dedicated to examining the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of public schooling, and of local, family, community, alternative, and/or trans/national settings as educational contexts.
Cultural Studies in Education (CSE) is a critical, interdisciplinary program that draws broadly from anthropological, sociological, critical, and foundations studies of education. CSE was created in 2004 under the vision and collaboration of Doug Foley, Sofía Villenas and Angela Valenzuela with a commitment to studying the range of educational processes, broadly conceived, within, and outside schooling contexts. With a strong commitment to social justice, CSE continues to be dedicated to examining the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of public schooling, and of local, family, community, alternative, and/or trans/national settings as educational contexts.
In CSE graduate students engage critical cultural and social theories and study narrative, qualitative and ethnographic methods to research education from a broad perspective. CSE students encounter questions that deal with the sociocultural, philosophical and historical foundations of education, the politics of education, urban schooling, critical pedagogy, and globalization. The CSE vision is inclusive. We encourage students to explore interdisciplinary knowledge from multiple conceptual frameworks and to focus their work on special areas of interest in education, but that also engage the critical study of racial, ethnic, gender, class, and sexual orientation diversity in the U.S. and elsewhere. CSE is committed to honoring the his- and herstories, ways of knowing and ways of being of different social and cultural groups with the goal of re/imaging future trans/formative possibilities for public schooling and beyond.
The CSE Ph.D. program is recommended for individuals with three to four years of public school teaching experience, preferably in urban contexts, in the U.S., or with several years of professional experience in education.
Our Alumni
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Aurora Chang Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Loyola University, Chicago Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2010
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Albert Bimper, Jr. Senior Associate Athletic Director & Assistant Professor, Colorado State University Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2012
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Juan F. Carillo Assistant Professor of Education, Cultural Studies and Literacies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2010
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G. Sue Kasun Assistant Professor, Language Education, Georgia State University Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2012
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Carla García-Fernández Assistant Professor of Deaf Studies Department, California State University Northridge Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2014
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Keith M. Sturges Founder and CEO Indikus Program Evaluation and Planning Nashville, Tenn. Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2011
Additional Resources
