YOUTH, EDUCATION, AND SOCIETY
Explores the study of youth through theoretical, historical, social, and cultural perspectives with a focus on Minoritized Youth; interrogates the concept of "youth" as a socially constructed category; examines how "youth" have been positioned within educational, political, economic, and social contexts; analyzes how youth's racialized experiences intersect with other social identities: social class, gender, and sexuality. Themes explored: conceptions of youth as a social category, education and schooling, race, gender, sexuality, politics and activism, community-based learning, criminal justice, media, and popular culture. Uses historical and contemporary "texts" and current events to study the lived experiences of young people within diverse racial, cultural, gendered, sexualized and classed contexts. Reflect on own experiences as "youth," their relationship to education and other social institutions, and how it informs understanding of society, educational theory and practice.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: None Course Designation: Core GenEd - Civics & Perspectives Ethnic St - Ethnic Studies Breadth - Social Science Level - Elementary L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Identify how the category of “youth” is conceptualized over space and time Audience: Undergraduate 2. Analyze issues, ideas and concepts central to understanding the social and political factors that shape youth’s experience and educational outcomes in the US – and how these experiences vary across race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and context. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Apply critical thinking skills to myriad significant racial and socio-cultural issues in and around educational communities for youth of color in marginalized contexts Audience: Undergraduate 4. Deconstruct the framing of youth within education, research, media, and popular discourses Audience: Undergraduate 5. Contextualize personal beliefs and understanding of social forces (i.e. race, class, gender, sexuality, power, etc.) and how these beliefs shape their own social identities Audience: Undergraduate 6. Develop an awareness of the worldviews of others and the varied realities of youths’ educational and social experiences Audience: Undergraduate 7. Engage in/and think critically about political and social events that impact the lives of young people as it relates to the current moment (social movements, youth uprisings, campus conflict/climate, etc.) Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Identify how the category of “youth” is conceptualized over space and time Audience: Undergraduate 2. Analyze issues, ideas and concepts central to understanding the social and political factors that shape youth’s experience and educational outcomes in the US – and how these experiences vary across race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and context. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Apply critical thinking skills to myriad significant racial and socio-cultural issues in and around educational communities for youth of color in marginalized contexts Audience: Undergraduate 4. Deconstruct the framing of youth within education, research, media, and popular discourses Audience: Undergraduate 5. Contextualize personal beliefs and understanding of social forces (i.e. race, class, gender, sexuality, power, etc.) and how these beliefs shape their own social identities Audience: Undergraduate 6. Develop an awareness of the worldviews of others and the varied realities of youths’ educational and social experiences Audience: Undergraduate 7. Engage in/and think critically about political and social events that impact the lives of young people as it relates to the current moment (social movements, youth uprisings, campus conflict/climate, etc.) Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027