THE POLITICS OF EDUCATION INJUSTICE IN THE US
Public education in the United States is an inherently political site that offers an important institution to understand politics, power, and injustice broadly. Explore these themes from multiple angles: (a) the layered histories of injustice at the intersection of race, class, gender, and more in historical and present cases; (b) the power of ideas in shaping policy possibilities; (c) shifting levels of governance and questions of injustice; and (c) perspectives of key actors, interests, and stakeholders. Consider the politics of education in relation to broader social, spatial, historical, and political economic contexts. Develop critical analytic and conceptual tools to deeply understand and analyze how power and politics are impacting contemporary educational policy events. By drawing from grassroots and subjugated perspectives, cultivate a policy imagination towards more just educational possibilities, and explore the necessary policy infrastructure and movements to sustain them.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Sophomore standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Civics & Perspectives Ethnic St - Ethnic Studies Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the historical development of the U.S. public education system in relationship to injustice at the intersection of race, class, gender, and other axes of inequality Audience: Undergraduate 2. Critically analyze contemporary educational policy and politics through a justice lens based on foundational knowledge of the history of public education and theories of power and politics Audience: Undergraduate 3. Evaluate how power and authority is distributed across various political institutions responsible for education policy decision-making, and how various actors work to create change in ways that expand and contract justice Audience: Undergraduate 4. Develop analytic tools to identify how power and politics are impacting contemporary educational policy events that reflect critical engagement with the worldviews and experiences of others Audience: Undergraduate 5. Reflect on personal experiences (as situated in broader contexts) and question knowledge claims related to injustice at the intersection of race, class, gender, and other axes of inequality Audience: Undergraduate 6. Cultivate critical reasoning capacity to apply course concepts related to power, politics, and injustice to their lives outside the classroom and mobilize this capacity to respectfully participate in a multicultural society Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the historical development of the U.S. public education system in relationship to injustice at the intersection of race, class, gender, and other axes of inequality Audience: Undergraduate 2. Critically analyze contemporary educational policy and politics through a justice lens based on foundational knowledge of the history of public education and theories of power and politics Audience: Undergraduate 3. Evaluate how power and authority is distributed across various political institutions responsible for education policy decision-making, and how various actors work to create change in ways that expand and contract justice Audience: Undergraduate 4. Develop analytic tools to identify how power and politics are impacting contemporary educational policy events that reflect critical engagement with the worldviews and experiences of others Audience: Undergraduate 5. Reflect on personal experiences (as situated in broader contexts) and question knowledge claims related to injustice at the intersection of race, class, gender, and other axes of inequality Audience: Undergraduate 6. Cultivate critical reasoning capacity to apply course concepts related to power, politics, and injustice to their lives outside the classroom and mobilize this capacity to respectfully participate in a multicultural society Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027