EDST101 Introduction to Education Studies

This seminar will provide a space for newly declared education studies majors and minors to come together and develop as a cohort through learning about each other's educational backgrounds and scholarly interests. In addition, students will learn more about the areas of research and pedagogy being implemented by the Wesleyan faculty in education studies and build rapport with faculty members. The course content will cover the areas defined in the education studies major--including human development and learning; pedagogy; social, cultural, historical, and philosophical disciplines in education; transformative justice in education; methodologies in the study of education, including qualitative and quantitative; and the connection and tension between academic coursework and practical experiences in educational settings--and will introduce students to additional approaches and subfields.



Course components will include cohort-building activities to introduce the newly declared majors to each other and their educational backgrounds; collaborative reading and discussion of work taking place at Wesleyan and being studied by faculty in education studies; creating a space to discuss and read further about talks by visiting speakers, colloquia, or other events in the College of Education Studies; guest teaching by EDST and outside faculty; and a reflection paper on the path they plan to pursue through the major/minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST105 Foundations of Education Studies

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Education Studies. Drawing on the fields of sociology, cultural studies, political science, psychology, history, and philosophy, this course emphasizes the key tensions and debates in the field of education. Through course readings and class discussions, students will grapple with questions such as: What is the purpose of education? How do we conceptualize what it means "to learn" or "to educate"? What do we teach in schools, and why? What social, cultural, political forces shape the educational opportunity structure and student outcomes? How do students learn, and what does this mean for educational practice? How do we support developmentally appropriate pedagogy in K-12 settings? How do we determine how to assess or measure student progress toward our goals for the purpose(s) of education? Students will be responsible for a variety of course readings and demonstrating understanding through in-class critical writing assignments throughout the course. Students should expect to read about three articles or chapters to prepare for each class session. Discussion facilitations and a final self-study project will allow students to synthesize and deepen their learning. This course is required for Education Studies majors. The course is designed for students in their second year who are seriously considering the major. Prospective Education Studies minors and current majors/minors may be admitted if seats are available during add/drop.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST110F Writing about Teaching: An Exploration of American Educational Ideals through Writing and Film (FYS)

This seminar explores conceptions of teaching and learning through examination of fictional, ethnographic, and documentary accounts of teachers and their work. We will examine the portrayal of teaching in literature, creative nonfiction, journalism, and scholarly field research, as well as in film. What do these forms of representation tell us about cultural perceptions of schooling, teaching, and learning in the 20th and 21st century? What can we learn from close analysis of the ways in which authors use words and images to portray teachers and students? Participants in this seminar will have the opportunity to reflect upon their own perceptions of teaching and learning, to ground those perceptions in a philosophy of education, and to explore the ways in which writing well about teaching, from many disciplinary perspectives, can impact the profession and our understanding of the enterprise of teaching and learning. Students will practice a variety of modes of writing (critical and analytical essays; personal essays; creative writing; brief ethnography and Lightfoot's social science "portraiture" method) and analysis of both writing and film, as well as visual thinking strategies and techniques for observing and documenting cultures of learning.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST114F Why You Can't Write (FYS)

Institutions of higher education have required first-year students to take writing courses for well over a century. In doing so, they have made it clear that educational and professional success are deeply tied to writing skills. But why is this? This class asks what it means to teach students how to write by probing seemingly stable concepts and practices like language and communication. We will discuss the history of writing studies in higher education before taking up debates over literacy, language standardization, education as imperialism and colonialism, theories of writing instruction, assignment design, and assessment practices. In addition to introducing students to the field of composition, rhetoric, and writing studies, so, too, will this course center the practice of writing. As such, students can expect to write, revise, and comment on classmates' writing regularly. Assignments will include a personal literacy narrative, response papers, weekly journals, and creative projects like assignment and rubric design.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT114F
Prereq: None

EDST116F Bad Ideas About Writing: Introduction to Writing Studies

Writing can be a divisive subject. Some people love writing poetry, fantasy, or romance in their free time but start biting their nails at the mention of an assigned writing project in class. Many have grown up hearing their writing is not good enough, that they need to "learn proper English," or that they "can't say that" in a school paper. Bad Ideas About Writing: An Introduction to Writing Studies provides a venue for reflection on writing education and personal literacy. We will analyze attitudes and practices around writing that stem from cultural movements and systemic discrimination. Additionally, students can expect to participate in peer review sessions to develop skills in giving and receiving feedback. This course is ideal for students interested in writing/literacy education as well as those who seek a better understanding of the process and theory of writing to benefit their own practice.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT145F
Prereq: None

EDST140 Introduction to TESOL

This Community-Engaged Learning course will explore social issues, classroom management, and current debates related to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), as well as learning languages in general. The course introduces the "best practices" of TESOL through current research, practical assignments, and students' reflection on their experience teaching English over the course of the semester. Students will critique existing materials, create their own lesson plans and activities, and conduct teaching demonstrations for our class. Working with community partners, students will also complete 20 hours of teaching/tutoring English Language Learners. This course fulfills both the pedagogy and practicum requirements for the Education Studies major and minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: ENGL143L, WRCT140L
Prereq: None

EDST201 Writing Theory and Practice

Writing is central to education in the U.S., but how does someone learn to write? In this course, students will consider this question by reading theories of composition, debating key concepts of writing such as reflection, transfer, and translanguaging, as well as discussing scholarship out of cultural studies, literacy studies, genre studies, technical and professional writing, and public writing. Together we will explore the potential of writing education, carefully considering how we, as educators, can foster just and innovative writing education. As we read about writing instruction, literacy, and assessment, students will be expected to bring scholarship in dialogue with lived experience. To do so, they will engage in a number of praxis-based assignments, including group work to develop assignments, assessment practices, and curricular recommendations. The course will culminate in a final project of each students' design, that tackles the practicalities of teaching writing.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT201
Prereq: None

EDST201Z Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)

This course is designed for students that are considering teaching English outside of the United States in the future. It may be particularly useful for those considering applying for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, the JET program, the Peace Corps, or continuing after Wesleyan to get a TEFL or TESOL certificate or master's degree. The course will include basic language acquisition theory, TEFL teaching techniques, readings by sojourners in various programs, and opportunities to reflect on personal reasons for choosing to teach abroad.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT201Z, CGST201Z
Prereq: None

EDST202 Pedagogy for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Tutors

This course offers an introduction to pedagogical techniques and theories for teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The class is ideal for students considering a career in K-12 education, as the number of students whose first language is not English is rising in the US every year. Students enrolled in this course will gain practical experience by committing to volunteer with an organization working with English Language Learners (options will be provided). They are encouraged, but not required, to continue their service afterward with the Wes ELL Program. There is a volunteering commitment of two hours/week, or 20 hours a semester, minimum during the semester.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT202
Prereq: None

EDST204 Teaching Spanish K-12: Second Language Pedagogy (CLAC 0.5)

This is a community engagement course in which students learn basic principles of language pedagogy and language acquisition to inform their teaching of Spanish to children at one of the Middletown public schools. Readings in English and Spanish; class discussion and assignments in Spanish. Students will familiarize themselves with characteristics of second language (L2) learning and teaching, a basic know-how on analyzing and preparing materials for language learning/teaching, and L2 teaching as a profession.

Language and course requirement: Students must have recently taken a SPAN course numbered 221 or above. Preference will be given to EDST and HISP majors, as well as juniors and seniors.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: HA-RLAN
Identical With: SPAN204, CGST218
Prereq: None

EDST205 Multilingual Language Policy

This course explores how explicit and implicit language policies in institutions of power affect businesses, schools, and the legal system. More specifically, the course investigates how language choices, translations, and the policies regarding both affect education, the languages spoken in a country and the policies to preserve or suppress them, bilingual businesses, immigration policies, and the US legal system. We will also discuss the recommendations of scholars for increasing multilingualism in the USA and changing the attitudes toward it, improving education for English-language learners, and efforts to improve non-native English speakers' ability to navigate the legal system. The course is recommended for anyone considering working with English-language learners such as teachers, tutors, NGO personnel, and legal or business professionals.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT205
Prereq: None

EDST206 Race and Education Policy

This course will provide a broad introduction to contemporary education policy centered on issues of race/ethnicity. This course introduces the application of economic analysis and the critical skills necessary to think about education reform. The course is designed to develop students' abilities to examine, analyze and critique education policies, education policy-making, and education policy implementation. The course will analyze major education policy debates such as school desegregation, school finance, school accountability and standards, school resources, school choice/charter schools, student discipline, educator policies (quality, diversity, certification), special education, and college entrance. This is an intensive-reading, writing, and discussion class.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-ECON
Identical With: ECON206
Prereq: ECON110

EDST207 Philosophy of Education

This course will explore central questions of philosophy of education such as: What does human flourishing entail? What is knowledge, how does it differ from belief, and how do we gain it? What is learning and what conditions make learning possible? What constitutes a teacher and what role should a teacher have? What should be learned and who should decide? What are the highest and most important aims of education? What does it mean for an education to be liberatory? What kind of education is needed in a democracy? We will seek perspectives from philosophers from traditions including transcendentalism, pragmatism, existentialism and critical theory, and class participants will be invited to articulate their own philosophies of education and to reflect on their educational experiences, placing them in conversation with our course readings. This course fulfills the Category 2 requirement for the Education Studies Major and Minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST209F Religion, Science, and Empire: Crucible of a Globalized World (FYS)

The development of modern science--and of modernity itself--not only coincided with the rise of European imperialism: it was abetted by it. Meanwhile, religion was integral to both the roots of European science and Western encounters with others. This class will explore how the intersections of religion, science, and empire have formed a globalized world with examples of European engagement with the Americas, Middle East, and, particularly, India from the age of Columbus through to the space race. We will examine how the disciplines we know today as biology, anthropology, archaeology, folklore, and the history of religions all crystallized in the crucible of imperial encounter and how non-Westerners have embraced, engaged, and resisted these epistemes.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-RELI
Identical With: RELI209F, GSAS209F, STS209F, HIST112F
Prereq: None

EDST210 Educational Gaming Lab: Project-Based, Game-Based Pedagogy Approaches

In the past two decades, crowdfunding and renewed interest in games--board games, role-playing games, digital games, and instructional games--have created an increased and diverse gaming production, which has become the subject of several studies, articles, and projects related to all areas of education, from hard sciences to language learning and the arts. In an effort to explore how a game-informed pedagogy can work in various types of courses and to highlight analog and/or digital gaming approaches that have worked inside and outside the language classroom, this course will explore the basics of game-based learning (GBL) and discuss how games of all kinds can inform pedagogical discussions and the creation of learning materials. Educational Gaming Lab is designed as a project-based gaming laboratory that will focus on why and how analog games can be effective tools for pedagogy. Examples will include board games, tabletop role-playing games, escape games, and puzzles. Participants will discuss the application of gaming principles to various subjects and types of classrooms; then, they will engage in a final project in which they will either adapt existing games for specific learning outcomes or create brand new educational games. The course will be conducted in English and games will be created in English.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: IDEA209
Prereq: None

EDST211Z Understanding Inequality: Psychological and Educational Perspectives

This class focuses on recent work by psychologists, economists, and education researchers examining the effects of growing inequality on our collective mental health and on the school-related performance of children in particular. One class theme is that U.S. economic inequality has grown substantially in the past few decades, so that we now have one of the highest levels of inequality of any advanced industrialized country in the world. A second key theme is how few Americans are aware of the extent of these changes and their effects on the well-being of children and adults. The course also focuses on the nature of the "American Dream" and how distorted perceptions of social mobility affect many Americans' concerns about inequality. The overall class concentrates on how these economic realities and related psychological misperceptions have combined to create a cascade of negative psychosocial and educational consequences, ranging from "deaths of despair" in adults, to increased mental health issues in children, to the growing polarization of educational opportunities and outcomes at all ages. Among the topics that will be covered are: the growth of wealth and income inequality in U.S. (including comparisons with other advanced, industrialized countries); psychological research on how people perceive and misperceive inequality; the moral nature of inequality in relation to thinking about distributive justice; the psychological literature on the consequences of inequality; and, finally, the limitations of a meritocracy for addressing these consequences. This course fulfills the Category 1 requirement for the Education Studies Major and Minor, and an elective credit for the Psychology Major.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: PSYC287Z
Prereq: None

EDST212 Un-Ruley Grammar: Teaching English Grammar to Speakers of Other Languages

What is the past perfect progressive and how do I explain it to my students? Many English teachers use grammar correctly but can't explain why and this course bridges that gap. We'll learn grammatical rules from the ground up and explore effective teaching strategies. As part of that process, we'll explore various theories of grammars from scholars like Chomsky and Halliday, as well as investigate who decides what's "correct" in different contexts and how academic grammar standards emerged. Cross-linguistic comparisons encouraged but not required. This course is designed for writing tutors, English majors, Education Studies students, and anyone interested in English grammar.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST213Z Introduction to Social Justice Education

What is social justice? What are the origins and theoretical foundations of social justice education? What are effective methods of teaching social justice? This course will provide a space for students to learn about liberatory methods for teaching and practicing social justice while interrogating the historical discourses that have shaped social justice education. The first half of the course will focus on understanding the history and theoretical underpinnings of social justice education. In this section, we will focus on liberation philosophy, critical pedagogy, feminist theory, postcolonial theory, intercultural communication theories, queer theory, indigenous studies, and disability studies.



The second half of the course will focus on contemporary practices and perspectives related to social justice education with a particular focus on liberatory, dialogic, and nonviolent approaches to social change. The coursework will involve reflection essays on class lectures and readings as well as intergroup dialogue and group activities that will encourage students to examine their own connection to the theoretical concepts presented in the lectures and homework assignments. The culminating project/final will be a research paper wherein students will explore one aspect of their own educational journey and connect it to the course content. Students will be provided a course pack for this class with all required reading materials.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST221 Decolonizing Education

Who determines what is true and worth knowing? How has the construction of knowledge and academic traditions from across the globe been impacted by such phenomena as (post)modernity, (neo)colonialism, and (neo)liberalism? Why do any of the questions above matter to your own personal history, beliefs, and identity? This course will provide a space for students to critically examine the history and development of the discourses that have shaped their educational experiences and their understanding of the purpose of education. The first half of the course will focus on texts and assignments that interrogate how some of our modern epistemological discourses were formed and maintained through the lens of postcolonial studies and critical educational studies.



The second half of the course will center on ways people have worked within these dominant modes of thought to resist hegemonic modern discourses that privilege logical positivism, quantification, objectivism, and Western European histories and ideologies above all else. This course will involve reflection essays on weekly readings, intergroup dialogue, and activities that will encourage students to examine their own connection to the theoretical concepts presented in class. The culminating project/final will be a scholarly personal narrative wherein students will synthesize both what they learned about themselves and the content that was presented during the course.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST221Z Decolonizing Education

Who determines what is true and worth knowing? How has the construction of knowledge and academic traditions from across the globe been impacted by such phenomena as (post)modernity, (neo)colonialism, and (neo)liberalism? Why do any of the questions above matter to your own personal history, beliefs, and identity? This course will provide a space for students to critically examine the history and development of the discourses that have shaped their educational experiences and their understanding of the purpose of education. The first half of the course will focus on texts and assignments that interrogate how some of our modern epistemological discourses were formed and maintained through the lens of postcolonial studies and critical educational studies. The second half of the course will center on ways people have worked within these dominant modes of thought to resist hegemonic modern discourses that privileges logical positivism, quantification, objectivism, and Western European histories and ideologies above all else. This coursework will involve reflection essays on class lectures and readings due before the class starts on Jan. 4th. The synchronous coursework will include intergroup dialogue and group activities that will encourage students to examine their own connection to the theoretical concepts presented in the lectures and homework assignments. The culminating project/final will be a scholarly personal narrative wherein students will synthesize both what they learned about themselves and the content that was presented during the course.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST223 Second Language Acquisition and Teaching

This course introduces students to the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and addresses the following questions: How do humans learn additional languages after they have acquired their first? Why is there such variability observed in the rates and outcomes of second language learning? Is it possible to attain native(-like) linguistic competence in another language?



We begin with the theories and applications of SLA, and then examine major pedagogical movements in Second Language Teaching in the U.S. Students will develop the ability to critically assess current methods, materials, and techniques for teaching various language skills and will produce their own pedagogical activities to be used in a classroom setting. Students of French and Spanish may also wish to enroll in RL&L 223L, a 0.5 credit service learning course in which students volunteer in the Middletown Public Schools.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-RLAN
Identical With: RL&L223
Prereq: None

EDST223L Second Language Acquisition & Pedagogy - Teaching Romance Languages

How do humans learn additional languages after they have acquired their first? Why is there such variability observed in the rates and outcomes of second language learning? Is it possible to attain native(-like) linguistic competence in another language? This course is intended for students who may be considering a career in education. We begin with the theories and applications of SLA, and then examine major pedagogical movements in Second Language Teaching in the U.S. Students will develop the ability to critically assess current methods, materials, and techniques for teaching various language skills and will produce their own pedagogical activities to be used in a classroom setting.



In this service-learning course, students are required to volunteer a minimum of two hours per week in the Middletown Public Schools, assisting French, Italian, and Spanish teachers in their world language classes. Students will write weekly journal entries reflecting on their classroom experience, and will learn to evaluate, adapt, and create pedagogical materials. By the end of the semester, they will have created a portfolio of activities that can be used in a foreign language classroom.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-RLAN
Identical With: RL&L223L
Prereq: None

EDST224 History & Current Forces Shaping Special Education

In the course History & Current Forces Shaping Special Education, students will critically examine how social/political forces and varying conceptions of disability have shaped special education in the United States over time. Course themes include the historical and legal context of the education of students with disabilities within public schools, the contested nature of disability labels and its effect on pedagogical methods, the racialization of high incidence disabilities in schools, and the lived experiences of students living and learning with disabilities. Students will engage in readings, film viewings, lectures, discussions, and other activities to promote their understanding of the course content. Students will complete two major assignments--an analysis of an education policy or case and its effects on students or special education processes and an in-depth interview with an individual associated with a special education program. This course is intended to prepare students to critically examine past and present special education policy and processes while imagining the possibility of what such supports could do for students in schools.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST225Z Education and Empire

Wherever the U.S. has sought to gain or maintain control, whether by way of enslavement, forced assimilation, settler colonialism, or military occupation and imperialist rule abroad, education has played an all-too-often-overlooked supporting role. Yet wherever this is true, there are also people who have used education as a means of resistance, rebellion, revolution, and liberation. This course offers an introduction to the transnational history of education in relation to the development of U.S. empire both at home and abroad. By bringing together topics often approached separately--like immigration, pedagogy, settler colonialism, African American history, and the history of the U.S. empire--we will interrogate the ways that education has been mobilized to deploy power: controlling knowledge, categorizing and policing difference, administering unequal paths to citizenship/belonging, forcing assimilation, promoting socioeconomic divides, and asserting discipline and control. Topics to be covered include American Indian education and self-determination, African American education in slavery and freedom, U.S. colonial education in the Philippines/Cuba/Puerto Rico, immigration and forced Americanization schooling, Latinx fights for educational access and autonomy, State Department experiments in educational diplomacy, and knowledge production for national security and the war on terror. Throughout, we will draw links between the past and the present and between the classroom and geopolitics. Together, we will ask what it might mean to "decolonize" or "indigenize" education today and work on developing the ability to imagine otherwise.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST226 Contemporary Literacy: What Does It Mean to Be Literate in the 21st Century?

How do humans learn to read and write -- and how has that learning evolved in a rapidly changing media landscape? This course explores the cognitive, social, and cultural processes involved in literacy acquisition, from early development to advanced academic and digital literacies. Rooted in Paulo Freire's concept of literacy as a practice of meaning-making and empowerment, the course invites students to critically examine how literacy is shaped by power, identity, and access.



Drawing on contemporary multiliteracies research, students will explore the diverse ways literacy is practiced in today's digitally mediated world. Special attention will be given to media and information literacy--essential skills for navigating misinformation, algorithms, and fragmented media environments. This course will also center on literacy as the foundation for civic learning and engagement, inviting students to think about the ways schools scaffold citizenry through literacy instruction. Through critical inquiry, hands-on analysis, and reflective practice, students will develop the tools to access, evaluate, and produce information in a way that is ethical, critical, and socially responsive.



This course is ideal for students interested in education, media studies, communication, and anyone seeking to understand literacy beyond the printed word in our complex digital age.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: PSYC286
Prereq: None

EDST230 Schools in Society

What role have schools played in the evolution of American society? This course invites you to take a step back from your own K-12 experiences and critically position those experiences within a broader understanding of the U.S. education system. We will consider how education, broadly conceived, has the capacity to maintain and transform social inequalities. We will explore crosscutting themes of race, schooling, democracy, and notions of "progress" by examining topics in school segregation/integration, market-based reforms, pedagogy, learning theories, and the curriculum. This course fulfills the Foundations, Breadth Category 2, or Elective requirement for the Education Studies major and minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST231Z Developmental Psychology

In this two-week, full-credit course, students will learn how children develop across different domains -- physical, cognitive, language, social-emotional, identity, personality. We will emphasize the primary research literature in developmental science and expose students to the fundamental methods and theories used to study how children develop. In the process, we will learn to appreciate the beauty and detail of human development, as well as the ingenuity of research in the field over the last several decades.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-PSYC
Identical With: PSYC230Z
Prereq: None

EDST232 Italy at School: Biography of a Nation

Soon after the unification of Italy (1861), the Coppino Law extended primary school to five years, making it free of charge and mandatory for its first three years (1877). Edmondo De Amicis would subsequently depict these reforms in his best-selling novel Cuore (1886), a text that introduced some enduring features of school narratives but also many stereotypes, thus attracting constant criticism and inspiring several parodies of its moralistic underpinnings. Ever since then school narratives have become a key component of Italian culture, creating a genre that has thrived especially in the last three decades, with a number of both fiction and nonfiction books published by teacher-writers who have reflected on their experience.



In this course we will study Italy from the perspective of these texts about school that often originated within school walls themselves. In so doing, we will reconstruct the history of a relatively young country, Italy, through the institution that, like no other, has been given the responsibility of "making Italians." At the same time we will question the image of Italian society that school narratives have, intentionally or not, contributed to portraying. In addition to reading Lucio Mastronardi's Il maestro di Vigevano (1962), we will focus on a wide range of materials, including novels, memoirs, poems, popular songs, films, and works of art that, even in the absence of a unanimously acclaimed "classic" of the genre, have shaped the Italian collective imaginary. Materials will be organized around five poles that have been quintessential to the debate on school in Italy across politics and culture: characters (teachers and students, obviously, but also colleagues, classmates, and families), labor and working conditions (including themes such as precarious work, class conflict, labor rights), gender and identity (questioning traditional gender roles and discussing integration of migrants at school), places and geographies (addressing topics from school design to teaching in prisons, as well as center-periphery integration and north-south divide), and actions (both those of teachers and of students, such as obtaining a certification vs. passing a test, disciplining students vs. questioning teachers' authority, resigning from job vs. cutting classes). The course will be conducted in Italian.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-RLAN
Identical With: ITAL232
Prereq: ITAL112

EDST235 Globalization and Education

As we've seen with the COVID 19 pandemic and social movements against injustice such as the Movement for Black Lives and the movement for reproductive justice, our world is deeply interconnected in many ways, including socially, economically, culturally, technologically, and politically. The ways in which we understand who we are and our place(s) in the world are deeply informed by events, beliefs, narratives, and ideologies that circulate globally. Education has long been a space where these ideas and frameworks have been taken up, contested, and reimagined. In this course, we will draw on scholarship from a variety of disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, and history, trace key theoretical frameworks and definitions of globalization, such as world culture theory and de/coloniality, and examine globalization's impacts on education around the world. We will also look at major global actors working in education, such as the World Bank, USAID, and UNESCO, and the ways they shape and impact education. The central question that we will grapple with is: How can understandings of the complex forms and impacts of globalization help us track and make sense of our experiences and ideas about what education is and what it could be? This course is a prerequisite for Theory and Methods in Comparative Education. It counts towards the Category 2 requirement of the Education Studies Major and/or Minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST237 Imperial Education: Colonial Template

Where, how, and for what reasons did our modern structures of education originate? Beginning with the sketching out of an educational model in the British Raj, we will examine the dissemination of that model globally, in the British and French colonies of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and among immigrants and the proletariat. How and where does that model change, and to what effect? History will provide the context for our major subject matter: literature focussing on the educational experience. Among our historical and theoretical readings will be Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education, Viswanathan's The Beginnings of English literary study in British India, Wa Thiong'o's Decolonizing the Mind, Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and José Marti's On Education. We will also analyze literary texts and films, including Narayan's The English Teacher, Beti's Mission to Kala, Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions, Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, the film Sugar Cane Alley, and others.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: GSAS237, ENGL247, AFAM238
Prereq: None

EDST240 Critical Youth Studies

This course will use sociocultural lenses to examine, unpack, and trouble traditional understandings of youth and adolescence--or how society determines, monitors, and polices how human beings move towards and then reach adulthood. We will use various critical theoretical frameworks to study the assumptions placed on young people by different institutions and systems and the ways those assumptions control how, where, and who young people are allowed to be. Such an exploration is vitally important for the study of education because so much time is spent thinking about what and how young people should learn without ever really considering how we learn what a "youth" is thought to be. This course seeks to let go of normative modes of approaching and understanding the idea of "development" to better appreciate the myriad of ways that young people experience the process of moving toward adulthood.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST241 Children's Literature

Probably the first literature we fall in love with, children's literature shapes individuals and cultures in profound ways, investing us with important mythologies and guiding our identities and behaviors. This course will examine fairy tales, some works from the "golden age" of children's stories, and some contemporary works. We will enrich our reading of the fiction with some of the central theorists of this genre, including Bruno Bettelheim, Jack Zipes, and Maria Tatar.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-EDST, SBS-EDST
Identical With: ENGL235
Prereq: None

EDST241Z Children's Literature

Probably the first literature we fall in love with, children's literature shapes individuals and cultures in profound ways, giving us ways of seeing and understanding the world, investing us with important mythologies, and guiding our identities and behaviors. But who or what is a child? Who creates "children's literature" and what is a child's relationship with it? "Literature," in this case, is often pictorial as much as literate. Our intensive Winter session class will begin with definitions of the child, using images as well as historical and scholarly discussions, then move to an examination of picture books. Illustrations and fairy tales both guide lessons in literacy and language skills, and illuminate the world the child is entering. Next, we examine three authors from the golden age of children's literature in the U.S.: Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, and Frances Hodgson Burnett. The course moves into the twentieth century with Laura Ingalls Wilder's creation of the American frontier mythology -- and Louise Erdrich's answer to it. We conclude with Christopher Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter: a specific history of the U.S., and the allure of historical nostalgia.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-EDST, SBS-EDST
Identical With: ENGL235Z
Prereq: None

EDST243 Latin American Philosophies of Education

This course offers an intellectual inquiry into educational thought situated firmly within the historical and cultural realities of Latin America. It asks how thinkers and educators from the region -- which includes Brazil and the Caribbean -- critique eurocentric models and affirm local traditions of schooling and knowledge. Thinking from the American university, we will explore what it means to consider the classroom a site of epistemic resistance that challenges the coloniality of power permeating teaching and learning across the hemisphere. Topics studied include colonial and decolonial pedagogy; feminist and ecofeminist pedagogies; popular education in campesino, indigenous, labor, and transnational movements; liberation theologies and pedagogies; rural teaching and teacher training; education and land dispossession; debt; schooling in times of war, climate disaster, and incarceration; and the crisis of the modern university. Conducted in Spanish.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-RLAN
Identical With: SPAN243, LAST243
Prereq: None

EDST245 Children's Educational Media: Historical, Psychological, and Pedagogical Perspectives

This course will focus on the evolution of children's educational media from multiple perspectives, including a psychological lens to analyze learning and social emotional development, a pedagogical lens to analyze media content and delivery, and a historical lens to situate educational media within the context of larger society and political trends. Content will also include an exploration of digital media development for children and adolescents, including applications and supportive educational technology through the lens of academic achievement and learning. Students will explore theories, commentaries, and empirical research surrounding children's media production, including an in-depth look at psychological and educational supports for children's media (parental mediation, co-viewing). The course will mainly focus on preschoolers to late elementary students but will discuss the limited educational media intended for adolescents.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST250 Sociology of Knowledge

To map power-knowledge relationships, the sociology of knowledge grounds an analysis of knowledge in terms of social structures, the sets of patterned practices that define and give meaning to social life at individual, communal, and institutional levels. In the broadest sense, the sociology of knowledge is concerned with the relationship between the (epistemic) content and the social context of knowledge. How was knowledge produced and with what institutional resources? Who produced knowledge and why did they produce it? Who benefits from the circulation of knowledge? What effects in the world does knowledge engender? Our basic course objectives are to a) introduce sociology of knowledge as a form of critical inquiry, b) describe and distinguish the approaches and research methods associated with the sociology of knowledge, and c) learn how to analyze knowledge and knowledge-making practices in their social context using these methods.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-SISP
Identical With: STS250, CHUM250, SOC281
Prereq: None

EDST250Z Zero to Infinity: The Psychology of Numbers

What are the origins of mathematical thinking, and why do some people become experts while others get nervous calculating a tip? Before children are ever taught formal mathematics in a classroom, they are confronted with situations where they must use their intuitive understanding of numbers, geometry, and space to successfully navigate their environments. Yet, individual differences in math achievement emerge early in development and often persist throughout children's education. In this course we read and discuss both foundational and cutting-edge articles from cognitive science, education, and psychology to understand how mathematical thinking develops. We will also tackle questions such as: How do culture and varying social contexts affect numerical understanding? What do we know about gender differences in math achievement? How do stereotypes, prejudice, and math anxiety affect math performance? This class will involve a blend of synchronous class-time meetings and asynchronous work.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: PSYC288Z
Prereq: None

EDST251 Sociology of Knowledge

To map power-knowledge relationships, the sociology of knowledge grounds an analysis of knowledge in terms of social structures, the sets of patterned practices that define and give meaning to social life at individual, communal, and institutional levels. In the broadest sense, the sociology of knowledge is concerned with the relationship between the (epistemic) content and the social context of knowledge. How was knowledge produced and with what institutional resources? Who produced knowledge and why did they produce it? Who benefits from the circulation of knowledge? What effects in the world does knowledge engender? Our basic course objectives are to a) introduce sociology of knowledge as a form of critical inquiry, b) describe and distinguish the approaches and research methods associated with the sociology of knowledge, and c) learn how to analyze knowledge and knowledge-making practices in their social context using these methods.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-SISP
Identical With: SISP250, SOC255
Prereq: None

EDST252 Introduction to Comparative Education

This course offers an introduction to the field of Comparative & International Education. If the central question is what is education, then how might a comparative perspective yield some insight? In this course, we will consider education in different regions of the world: what counts as education? What spaces and practices are recognized as educational? Who participates? What social, political, and economic purposes and outcomes are associated with education? Why and how do they make "sense"?
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST252Z School Systems Around the World: An Introduction to Comparative Education

Nearly every town across the entire planet has a local school. In what ways is the nature of formal schooling the same across vastly different cultural contexts and in what ways does it differ? What kinds of contextual factors (e.g., infrastructure, population size, location, political situation, etc.) influence the setup and approach to schooling in different contexts? In this course, we will examine school systems across a wide variety of cultural contexts and compare them in terms of their underlying philosophy of education, their different approaches to implementing education within their cultural context, and consider the ways in which educational systems around the world are compared (both appropriately and inappropriately).
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST253 Educational Psychology

This course will focus on three major topics and how they relate to current educational policy debates. The first topic will be an examination of the fundamental purpose of school. We will discuss theoretical and empirical perspectives on why schools exist and ways in which school purpose varies by school type (e.g., public, private, charter) and location (e.g., by state and country). The second topic to be covered relates to the implementation of school mission. In this context, we will reflect on how theories of child development, student motivation, classroom management, and pedagogy inform instructional practice. Finally, the third major topic that will be covered is how to determine whether schools are achieving their stated goals. We will examine the appropriate (and inappropriate) uses of assessment for understanding whether students are learning, whether teachers are effective, and whether a school has a positive or negative climate. This course counts as an elective or column 2 breadth course towards the psychology major.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-PSYC
Identical With: PSYC253
Prereq: None

EDST266 Language, Inequality and Education

This course explores the complexities of language use and policy in formal schooling, and interrogates the role of education as a site of both linguistic oppression and assimilation as well as linguistic revitalization and diversity. Drawing on research, theory, and practice from a variety of disciplines--such as anthropology, sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, and applied linguistics--we will explore issues such as language ideologies, language and identity, raciolinguistics, and educational language policies (e.g., bilingual education policies). We will also examine specific cases at the global, regional, country, and district level to better understand how micro-level language use, ideologies, and policies are linked to larger macro structures such as white supremacy, capitalism, and coloniality.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST267 Qualitative Methods in Education Research

This course serves as an introduction to qualitative research methods in education and related disciplines. Through readings, lectures, and class discussions, students will develop an understanding of the purposes, philosophical assumptions, applications, and limitations of qualitative research for education-related inquiries. We will explore approaches to qualitative research, such as case study, ethnography, discourse analysis, and youth-led/participatory action research (YPAR/PAR). We will discuss what it means to conduct ethical research, how our backgrounds influence our observations of the world and what we learn from others, and how, if at all, qualitative research can inform education policy and practice. Students will have opportunities to practice qualitative research skills and become critical consumers of qualitative research. This course fulfills the Category 3 requirement of the Education Studies Major and/or Minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST275 Uses and Abuses of Education Research

The class will critically analyze how research has been utilized--for better or for worse--by scholars who study education, schooling, and young people. Instead of asking "How does one do research?" we will focus our inquiry on a broader set of questions about research within the field of Education Studies. Namely:



- What is research?

- Who does research and/or who gets researched?

- What does research produce?

- What is the relationship between research and knowledge? Research and truth? Research and power?

- How has research been done?

- Who has it traditionally served?

- And what does research do?



By asking these (and other) questions about what comprises "research," we will engage in unpacking how it is we see, observe, perceive, and analyze the educational worlds around us specifically through the lenses of race, gender, class, sexuality, Indigeneity, and ability. Because Education Studies is a field that investigates how and what we learn--and because research, put succinctly, deals with the production and reproduction of knowledges--studying research through the field of Education Studies allows us to study how we learn about knowledge itself.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST288 Teaching and Learning: Designing Opportunities for People to Think, Create, and Innovate

What impacts what we learn and how we learn it? Understanding sociological, psychological and cultural influences--as well as modern brain science--will dramatically affect how we design, plan for, and teach others about specific content and concepts. Written curriculum is the roadmap to learning and reflects the beliefs and values of the organization implementing it. Instruction is how that learning is delivered to the students. Curriculum and instruction--teaching and learning--are the cornerstones of what we learn and how we learn it. Many variables (e.g., language, culture, poverty, race, gender, etc.) impact an individual's ability to access and think deeply about the curriculum. This course will engage in inquiry about how people learn and what impacts their learning, as well as how we can effectively plan for and design learning that everyone can access, regardless of the variables that could potentially impact them.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST301 Senior Seminar in Education Studies

The senior seminar will provide a space for seniors in the education studies major, as a learning community, to reflect on and deepen their knowledge and understanding in core areas of education studies. Students will be expected to bring in relevant material from their other courses; to learn and discuss new material; and to work collaboratively to develop a grounding in the study of education individually and as a group. The course content will cover the areas defined in the education studies major, including human development and learning; pedagogy; social, cultural, historical, and philosophical disciplines in education; transformative justice in education; methodologies in the study of education, including ethnography and quantitative approaches. Discussions will explore the connection and tension between academic coursework and practical experiences in educational settings, and introduce students to additional approaches and subfields. Course components will include: (1) bridging across different students' distinct experiences in their classes relevant to each content area; (2) collaborative reading and discussion of new work beyond the scope of the existing EDST courses; (3) creating a space to discuss and read further about talks by visiting speakers, colloquia, or other events in the College of Education Studies; (4) guest teaching by EDST and outside faculty; and (5) an independent senior project (for thesis writers, this can serve as a scaffold to make progress on the thesis).
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: None
Prereq: None

EDST307 Multilingual Learners Literacy Development

In 2021, in the state of Connecticut, approximately 14% of the K-12 population were English Language Learners (ELL) (https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Performance/Research-Library/EL-DEMOGRAPHICS-10012020.pdf). This growing population includes students whose written languages vary considerably from English, students whose education has been interrupted due to the chaos of war and resettlement in the U.S., and students who have undiagnosed learning disabilities. This service-learning course focuses on an area of great need for this population -- English literacy. This course will offer students an opportunity to tutor ELLs for 20 hours during the semester while studying and applying the theories and best practices of ELL literacy development. In addition, this course will discuss best practices for teaching math to ELLs, lesson planning, classroom management, and other necessary skills for successful teachers in any field.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT207
Prereq: None

EDST310 Practicum in Education Studies

This seminar is intended to help students develop the skills to learn from experience in educational settings, through rigorous reflection, analysis, scholarly inquiry into educational questions, and action/implementation of new ideas. It is designed for students with previous coursework in education, experience in educational settings, or both. Students will be placed in a variety of educational settings in the community and each student will craft an independent study, with ongoing guidance from the professor and from the group, related to their placement. Class sessions will be seminar-style with students sharing and workshopping their studies and their practice. There will be group readings on aspects of education studies including reflective practice, classroom ethnography/teacher research, and observational techniques, but students will also develop individualized reading lists according to the focus of their independent study. In addition to ongoing written work in the form of analytic journals and critical reading synopses, students will complete an individualized final paper or project integrating their research and experience over the semester, and give a final presentation.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST311 Community Impact Practicum: Building Capacity to Support Educational Enrichment

In this practicum course, students will build an intellectual and practical framework to guide their volunteer work in educational settings in the local community. What does it mean to "help"? How do we assess the needs of community partners and build the knowledge and skills that will allow us to address those needs? What do we need to know and understand about the people with whom we work? What does research have to say about effective tutoring techniques and practices? How can we design meaningful learning experiences? How can we maximize not only our impact in the community, but also our own growth and learning? Through reflection on experiential learning and the study of scholarship addressing these questions, students will develop knowledge and skills to improve their effectiveness in supporting educational enrichment. Students taking this course must be engaged in at least 90 minutes per week of community service in an educational setting throughout the semester. Please note: If you are looking for a practicum that is more focused on the K-12 classroom experience, please see EDST310: Practicum in Education Studies. In that practicum seminar, students carry out their own independent study related to their classroom placement.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: CSPL311
Prereq: None

EDST315 Education Law in an Age of Change

This course is an introduction to the legal processes that shape public education in the United States. This course examines constitutional, statutory, regulatory, and case law in education in order to see the efficacy and limitations of using the court to advance change in education. Through readings, class discussions, and assignments, we will grapple with the following questions: 1. What legal processes inform public education in the United States? 2. Which seminal court cases have shaped public education? 3. Who effects legal change in public education? 4. Do the various constituencies of public educational law function within symbiotic relationships? This course is a school law class, not a law school class.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: EDST206 OR EDST207 OR EDST221 OR EDST224 OR EDST226 OR EDST230 OR EDST235 OR EDST241

EDST320 Early Childhood Practicum: Theory, Practice and Making Learning Visible

In this small intensive practicum course, students will spend a minimum of 2 hours per week working in early childhood education settings. The practical experience will be complemented by contemporary research about early child development, education, policy, and practice. Course topics will be driven by the interests of the group, by the questions that naturally emerge from the practicum placement experience, and by current debates in the field. Such topics include, but are not limited to: assessment and documentation of learning and development in early childhood settings; the unique functions of exploratory play in human learning and development; exploration and critique of developmental milestones and developmentally appropriate practice; in-the-field consequences of new legislation (e.g., Connecticut's 2023HB-06880-R02-BA mandates on play-based learning and raising the kindergarten age); and constructivism and social emotional development. In addition to reading primary sources and working within early childhood classrooms, we will benefit from conversations with experts actively working to integrate research, practice, and policy. Students will write "learning stories" documenting their observations in their field placements, submit response papers to class readings, participate actively in class discussions, and complete an in-depth exploration of a topic of their choice that bridges across the scholarly literature and the field placement experience. This class is available by Permission of Instructor (POI). Previous coursework in education or psychology is recommended.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST322 Early Childhood Education: Practice and Pedagogy

In this intensive course, students will examine contemporary research about early child development, education, policy, and practice. Course topics will be driven by current debates in the field, the interests of the group, and the questions that naturally emerge from the practicum placement experience. Such topics include: assessment and documentation of learning in early childhood settings; the unique functions of exploratory play in human learning and development; curriculum design and developmentally appropriate practice; the child-care work force; and the role of government and politics in ECE. In addition to reading primary sources and working within early childhood classrooms, we will benefit from conversations with experts actively working to integrate research, practice, and policy.



Students will spend a minimum of 2 hours per week working in an early childhood education (ECE) setting, such as a preschool, infant/toddler room, or early elementary class.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST323 It's All Happening in the Cafeteria: The (In)Justice of School Food

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally-assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools across the US. In FY 2022, the NSLP provided nearly 5 billion meals to children in preK-12th grade. Given the scale of this operation, school food serves as an important lever for food systems change and a window into food justice through examining production, procurement, distribution, and consumption. This course will look at school feeding programs to explore a variety of facets of the food system including school food policy (with state-level advocacy for universal free meals), farm-to-school, food service workers, and child and household food security. This course is intended as an advanced seminar for students with a background and interest in the related areas of food systems and social justice.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-SISP
Identical With: ENVS323
Prereq: ENVS197 OR ENVS219F OR E&ES155 OR EES199

EDST333 Social Media and Development: Constructing the Self Online

Humans typically develop their view of themselves, or their self-concept, through interactions with others in their community. For adolescents, this takes place typically within school environments and other community institutions as they begin to rely less on their parents. With the dawn of social media, these interactions are taking place on a global scale with increased anonymity. How does this social and technological change impact how teens and young adults form their views of themselves? What implications do these changes have for adults who work with adolescent populations? This course will explore these questions, illuminating an understanding of the accepted model of self-concept development and the impacts of social media. Students will also explore related concepts of self-esteem and social development. This course will use empirical research to examine and critique the overall negative view of social media usage amongst adolescents, and train students to probe commonly accepted viewpoints using careful scholarship. The course will provide a discussion of research standards in the field of social media research and encourage critical evaluation of empirical research.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: PSYC303
Prereq: None

EDST335 Celebrating Learner Differences: Creating Inclusive Classrooms Using Research

How do humans develop the capacity to learn? This course will focus on the dynamic influence of the cognitive, social emotional, and demographic factors involved in this process, using a research-based framework. Students will be encouraged to evaluate the learning process throughout K-12 educational settings and will explicitly learn to read and critique research in the learning sciences. Students will also evaluate the utility of research in different learning settings and the effectiveness of associated pedagogical tools and strategies.



The course will begin with a discussion on learning sciences research and explicit instruction for research evaluation. Topical considerations will include the development of human memory, executive function, attention, and other cognitive processes that underlie learning and information processing. Students will also explore background factors, including socioeconomic status, and social emotional factors, including motivation and emotion, as predictive and associated factors for learning and information processing.



This course fulfills the Category 1 requirement for the Education Studies Major and Minor. It satisfies the ELECTIVE only requirement for the PSYC major.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: PSYC304
Prereq: None

EDST336 Introduction to Comparative Education

This course offers an introduction to the field of Comparative and International Education. If the central question is "what is education," then how might a comparative perspective yield some insight? In this course, we will consider education in different contexts, ranging from regional foci such as Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa to country-specific case studies to explore the following questions: What counts as education? What spaces and practices are recognized as educational? Who participates? What social, political, and economic purposes and outcomes are associated with education? Why and how do they make sense? Topics we will explore include gender and education, literacy, and privatization.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST340 The Politics of Education

This course is an introduction to the complex political processes that shape public education in the United States. This course integrates concepts from multiple fields, including political science, government, sociology, and education, to examine how education is both a site of and a tool to manage broader social conflicts. Through readings, class discussions, and assignments, we will grapple with the following questions: Who governs public education in the United States? What forces and processes shape the formulation, enactment, and impact of education policies? How do educators, parents, and youth wield power to propel or resist education policy decisions? How do institutions of higher education, philanthropic organizations, governmental agencies, and other organizations influence the trajectory of education policy? This course will also introduce students to analytic tools that will allow them to unpack and interpret the politics surrounding education.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST341 Case Studies in Educational Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship, innovation, and reform are defining parts of the fabric of K-12 education in the US and other places, presenting opportunities and risks. For the first two months of the course, we will be visited most weeks by one or more experts who have led or studied innovative or entrepreneurial projects in the education sector. Perspectives and cases to be discussed include the founding of schools and businesses, start-up ventures, social entrepreneurship and nonprofit organizations, educational law and policy, and innovation within public schools and districts. A visit to New York City to visit multiple start-ups and investors is also planned, schedules allowing.



Students will learn from conversations with experts in the field about how to define problems in education, how different people have approached solutions to these problems, and lessons learned. The professor and students will work together to draw connections between the various case studies and to articulate larger principles. Our study will culminate in a guided project in which students will develop or investigate an educational innovation to solve a specific problem that they have learned about, following some of the principles of design and innovation that they have learned.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-ALLB
Prereq: None

EDST342 Questioning Authority: On the Politics of the Teacher-Student Relationship

What is the authority of the teacher in an era where the legitimacy of institutions and curriculum are under fire? Can hierarchical relationships between teachers and students be beneficial for learning and for political life? What are alternative conceptions of the teacher-student relationship? This course will explore different models of teaching within the history of political thought and beyond. From Socrates to the present, the context and manner of teaching has been just as important to political theorists as the content itself. The course will consider how questions of power, sexuality, risk, wisdom, and friendship inform different pedagogical styles and their implications for preparing citizens for democratic life. Readings include John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Alexis deTocqueville, John Dewey, Hannah Arendt, Mr. Rogers, Jacques Ranciere, Bernard Stiegler, Laura Kipnis, and others.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-GOVT
Identical With: GOVT342
Prereq: None

EDST345 Education Technology - Sociological Perspectives & Implications

How do computers, smartphones, the internet, and other educational technologies impact students and teachers? In this course, students will apply the fundamental tools and approaches of educational and social science research to better understand and evaluate the effectiveness of the educational technologies that surround and support students and teachers around the world. As such, students will learn about the history of education and evolution of technology with a focus on teaching, learning, and assessment applications in K12 education.



Through readings, class discussion, assignments, and analyses of real-world teaching and learning data, students will consider educational technology frameworks, research, practice, and policy. Specifically, students will consider how different student, teacher, and system-wide educational technologies: 1) have impacted students, teachers, families, schools, and communities across a broad range of educational outcomes and groups, i.e., gender, class, race/ethnicity.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST346 Schools and the Carceral Regime: Antiblackness, Education Policy, and the (Un)Free

Over the past several decades, American schools have come to increasingly resemble prisons due to the adoption of certain policies and practices. Specifically, zero-tolerance policies, school-based police officers, metal detectors, randomized searches, and security cameras render the learning environment a container of social control. Although recent policy decisions have worked to undo some of these policies, many remain intact while others have been replaced with new prison-like structures. Together, these approaches illustrate what is commonly called the "school-to-prison pipeline" or "school-prison nexus," and underwrite the ideological justifications for the hyper surveillance of students of color. Moreover, punitive discipline policies are an outgrowth of an antiblack racial imaginary that positions Black youth as inherently a problem needing to be monitored and controlled.



This course will examine the multiple ways that schools function as carceral sites for Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ youth with special attention to antiblackness, education policy, and justice. Through this course, students will have the opportunity to explore expanding notions of carcerality and how carceral approaches inflict physical, psychic, and symbolic violence on vulnerable populations. This course will also explore abolition as a useful praxis to transform schools and improve educational outcomes.



This undergraduate seminar leverages theoretical insights from neighboring disciplines, such as sociology, critical criminology, geography, and philosophy to explore how the carceral regime(s) shapes education policy and school practices. Students enrolled in this course will explore the expanding nature of carcerality and the implications for youth academic outcomes, sense of belonging, school engagement, and conceptions of safety. Given the context-dependent nature of carcerality, students will explore various educational contexts as case studies. In addition to case studies, students enrolled in this seminar will have the opportunity to engage with scholarly texts, podcasts, and films and learn through active class discussion, lectures, and group activities.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST346Z Schools and the Carceral Regime: Antiblackness, Education Policy, and the (Un)Free

Over the past several decades, American schools have come to increasingly resemble prisons due to the adoption of certain policies and practices. Specifically, zero-tolerance policies, school-based police officers, metal detectors, randomized searches, and security cameras render the learning environment a container of social control. Although recent policy decisions have worked to undo some of these policies, many remain intact while others have been replaced with new prison-like structures. Together, these approaches illustrate what is commonly called the "school-to-prison pipeline" or "school-prison nexus," and underwrite the ideological justifications for the hyper surveillance of students of color. Moreover, punitive discipline policies are an outgrowth of an antiblack racial imaginary that positions Black youth as inherently a problem needing to be monitored and controlled.



This course will examine the multiple ways that schools function as carceral sites for Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ youth with special attention to antiblackness, education policy, and justice. Through this course, students will have the opportunity to explore expanding notions of carcerality and how carceral approaches inflict physical, psychic, and symbolic violence on vulnerable populations. This course will also explore abolition as a useful praxis to transform schools and improve educational outcomes.



This undergraduate seminar leverages theoretical insights from neighboring disciplines, such as sociology, critical criminology, geography, and philosophy to explore how the carceral regime(s) shapes education policy and school practices. Students enrolled in this course will explore the expanding nature of carcerality and the implications for youth academic outcomes, sense of belonging, school engagement, and conceptions of safety. Given the context-dependent nature of carcerality, students will explore various educational contexts as case studies. In addition to case studies, students enrolled in this seminar will have the opportunity to engage with scholarly texts, podcasts, and films and learn through active class discussion.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST349 Urban Education Policy and the Politics of Reform

This course examines enduring issues embedded in the policy and politics of urban education reform. This course will introduce students to a broad range of education reform strategies, such as market-based approaches to education, state takeover of school districts, and enhancing school, family, and community partnerships. Additionally, we will examine the political dynamics that propel reform efforts. This course conceptualizes urban as a geographic location and as a specific set of issues associated with urban environments. Although we will primarily focus on the policy and politics of education reforms within the context of urban centers across the United States, students will have opportunities to apply their knowledge to a wide range of contexts. This course fulfills the Category 2 requirement of the Education Studies Major and Minor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST352 Human Rights and Education

Since the end of World War II, the idea of human rights has spread around the world with numerous documents, laws, and programs created to promote human rights in and through education. Within human rights discourses, education has emerged as simultaneously a right in and of itself, a crucial space that can either reproduce discriminatory practices or subvert and resist them, and a means through which knowledge of human rights can be promoted. But what do these developments in human rights and education mean in the everyday lives of formerly and currently colonized and oppressed peoples in the US and around the world, for whom education has been and continues to be used explicitly as a tool of oppression, forced assimilation, and violence? This class will explore this and other key questions related to human rights and education. What does it mean to be human, and how do we learn to be human? What rights mark a human being, who has them, and how do we learn who has them? Who, if anyone, should have a right to education? If they have a right to education, what kind of education is it? How does education as a human right relate to human rights education, and what are the implications of this relationship for our understanding of what changes to existing schooling systems might accomplish in terms of expanding and improving all humans' rights?
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST354 Seminar on Intelligence and Creativity

What does it mean to be smart? Who decides whether something or someone is creative? The answers to these questions are of great consequence as they often determine who gets access to scarce resources. This course will introduce students to some of the most vibrant and lively debates in the fields of intelligence and creativity. Our goal will be to discuss relevant theories and evaluate empirical data associated with various perspectives and approaches to understanding these important constructs. In addition, students will gain familiarity with and critically evaluate how intelligence and creativity are measured, as well as the usefulness of different measures for predicting the success of individuals and organizations.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-PSYC
Identical With: PSYC354
Prereq: None

EDST354Z Seminar on Intelligence and Creativity

What does it mean to be smart? Who decides whether something or someone is creative? The answers to these questions are of great consequence as they often determine who gets access to scarce resources. This course will introduce students to some of the most vibrant and lively debates in the fields of intelligence and creativity. Our goal will be to discuss relevant theories and evaluate empirical data associated with various perspectives and approaches to understanding these important constructs. In addition, students will gain familiarity with and critically evaluate how intelligence and creativity are measured, as well as the usefulness of different measures for predicting the success of individuals and organizations.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-PSYC
Identical With: PSYC354Z
Prereq: None

EDST355 The Long Struggle: Examining New Perspectives on Education Reform

Black Teachers' ongoing struggle to enact anti-racist practices and policies while navigating segregation and significant resource challenges provide powerful testimony of the peculiar limitations of traditional urban education reform movements.



This course will help students understand the inextricable links between student achievement, opportunity, and community progress by examining African American teachers' experiences in schools. The historical and present-day experiences of Black teachers will be used to anchor the analysis of education reform through the eyes of too often marginalized communities. This course will review historical narrative, examine present-day policy, and allow students to gain first-hand perspectives from "front-line" education and policy leaders.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST358 Fugitive Perspectives on Education and Civil Society

In 1946, the African American novelist Ann Petry imagined what a white schoolteacher might think about working with black students in Harlem, New York: "Working in this school was like being in a jungle. It was filled with the smell of the jungle, she thought: tainted food, rank, unwashed bodies." Petry had herself worked in Harlem schools. She also held credentials from well-heeled white schools in Connecticut. Despite her own academic success, she questioned the inherent value of schools that regarded black children as if they were untamed savages. Challenging prevailing narratives of excellence and achievement, this course examines fugitive perspectives of black, Indigenous, LBGTQ, and poor folks who resisted compulsory schooling and avoided conscription into so-called civilized society. If, as historian Michael B. Katz has argued, US schools "are imperial institutions designed to civilize the natives; they exist to do something to poor children, especially, now, children who are black or brown," then why should any self-respecting black or brown child endure such schooling? What might so-called truants, illiterates, failures, burnouts, dropouts, and delinquents teach us about education and civil society? The history of education, however, has largely been interpreted from a biased perspective--namely, those who have been successfully schooled. We will therefore search for contrary voices in fragments of oral culture, ranging from slave narratives to folktales and recorded music. Contemporary scholarship will inform our analysis. Interdisciplinary scholars such as James Scott, Eric Hobsbawm, Tera Hunter, Saidiya Hartman, Lisa Brooks, and Audra Simpson will illustrate how to read against the grain and unearth hidden transcripts from classic authors such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, Anna Julia Cooper, and Gertrude Simmons Bonin.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: HA-AFAM
Identical With: AFAM358
Prereq: None

EDST360 Curriculum Analysis & Design: What We Teach, Why It Matters, and What Could Be

The topic of curriculum -- what is taught, what counts as knowledge, who gets centered, and what is left out or made invisible -- is a central component of education studies. All stakeholders are impacted by the curricular decisions about what is taught in schools. The concept of what curriculum is -- a pre-packaged textbook or a district-created roadmap -- has shifted across time and has implications for what it means to be a teacher. Curriculum also impacts whose experiences are included and excluded from courses and how we prepare students for life beyond school. This course will help students develop understanding of the scholarship around curriculum as well as gain first hand experience both analyzing and creating curriculum themselves. In this course, students will come to understand what curriculum is and isn't, the process of creating and adopting curriculum from a systems perspective, and the many competing forces behind decisions that get made. A deep dive into curriculum can add a bridge between theories of culturally responsive pedagogy, critical studies, conceptions of literacy, civic education and actual practice. Course content will be useful for students thinking about careers as teachers, policymakers, journalists, researchers, or educational publishers.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST364 Race, Nation, Empire, and Education

This course engages students in developing frameworks for understanding the historical and contemporary role of education in race-making, nation-building, and imperial projects. We focus on how educational processes shape the material, cultural, social, and political aspects of people's lives, and how these contend within a changing global landscape. Topics include education's dual role in settler colonialism and its potential for decolonization; scientific racism and discourses about intelligence; institutions of higher education and their entanglements with slavery and imperialism; education in colonial and post-colonial settings; legislating bodies and intimacies among young women of color; and education as a site for producing hegemonic notions of ideal citizen-subjects.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: EDST230 OR EDST235 OR EDST241 OR EDST349 OR EDST221

EDST373 Religion, Science, and Empire: Crucible of a Globalized World

The development of modern science--and of modernity itself--not only coincided with the rise of European imperialism, it was abetted by it. Meanwhile, religion was integral to both the roots of European science and Western encounters with others. This class will explore how the intersections of religion, science, and empire have formed a globalized world with examples of European engagement with the Americas, Middle East, and, particularly, India from the age of Columbus through to the space race. We will examine how the disciplines we know today as biology, anthropology, archaeology, folklore, and the history of religions all crystallized in the crucible of imperial encounter and how non-Westerners have embraced, engaged, and resisted these epistemes.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-RELI
Identical With: RELI373, STS373, GSAS373
Prereq: None

EDST380 Advanced Research Practicum in Media and Literacy

Students in this course will participate in new and ongoing research projects within the College of Education Studies. Students will also be given the opportunity to design aligned individualized research projects to enhance their experience and help them to explore individualized areas of interest. This course will require students to search for and synthesize relevant literature to create literature reviews, practice extensive academic writing, and evaluate methodology. Students will also participate in data collection when appropriate.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: EDST335 OR EDST226 OR EDST333

EDST399 Abolitionist University Studies

This course explores historical materialist theorizations of the practices and future possibilities of the U.S. university as a tool of social reproduction and space of potentially revolutionary thought. In so doing, the readings, assignments, and discussion will be inspired by Stefano Harney and Fred Moten's provocation to reinterpret abolitionism as "not so much the abolition of prisons but the abolition of a society that could have prisons, that could have slavery, that could have the wage, and therefore not abolition as the elimination of anything but abolition as the founding of a new society." Students will consider how conventional renderings of the university in higher education studies, critical university studies, and the popular cultural imaginary are predicated upon an often romanticized and fundamentally limited geographic and historical understanding of the work of colleges and universities. In response, the course cultivates a more capacious conceptualization of the historical and contemporary function of the university as a social form. In taking up abolitionism as both a method and critical analytic, the course will challenge students to imagine the revolutionary possibilities of an abolition university that aligns itself with movements beyond the institution, while reflecting on the particular importance and challenge of enacting such a vision in our current political moment.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-CHUM
Identical With: SOC399M, FGSS311
Prereq: None

EDST400 Ford Seminar

The Ford Seminar continues the training and professional development of the Writing Workshop staff.
Offering: Crosslisting
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: HA-WRCT
Identical With: WRCT400
Prereq: None

EDST401 Individual Tutorial, Undergraduate

Topic to be arranged in consultation with the tutor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST402 Individual Tutorial, Undergraduate

Topic to be arranged in consultation with the tutor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST405 Teaching Fellowship for National Education Leaders

This course is for students to serve as Teaching Fellows for a course with the National Education Opportunity Network (neonopportunity.org), which provides college courses to Title I and Title I-eligible high schools nationwide. Please inquire with the instructor for information on course topics available this semester. Students will: -Host weekly 45-minute synchronous discussion sessions with 15-25 high school scholars via Zoom to enhance their engagement with course content, expose them to college-level seminar-style discussions, and help improve their analytical and metacognitive skills. -Evaluate and provide feedback on student work. Specific time assignments for sessions with high school students and required Teaching Fellow group meetings will be scheduled at the same time every week based on availability. This course counts for 10 hours toward the 20-hour practicum requirement in the EDST major or minor. The other 10 hours can be completed by repeating this class or through an independent practicum.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT
Credits: 1.00
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Identical With: QAC302, CSPL305, PHIL208
Prereq: None

EDST406 Education Research Lab

In this lab course students will learn about and participate in educational qualitative research. Students will learn how to do document analysis focused on legislative mandates on professional development in Connecticut over the last 15 years. In addition, they will observe the professor conducting interviews and focus groups with educators to help identify themes. Students will be trained to use qualitative data to identify trends, themes, and possible findings.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U
Credits: 0.50
Gen Ed Area: SBS-EDST
Prereq: None

EDST408 Senior Tutorial (downgraded thesis)

Downgraded Senior Thesis Tutorial - Project to be arranged in consultation with the tutor. Only enrolled in through the Honors Coordinator.
Offering: Host
Grading: A-F

EDST409 Senior Thesis Tutorial

Topic to be arranged in consultation with the tutor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST410 Senior Thesis Tutorial

Topic to be arranged in consultation with the tutor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST411 Group Tutorial, Undergraduate

Topic to be arranged in consultation with the tutor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST412 Group Tutorial, Undergraduate

Topic to be arranged in consultation with the tutor.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST419 Student Forum

Student-run group tutorial, sponsored by a faculty member and approved by the chair of a department or program.
Offering: Host
Grading: Cr/U

EDST465 Education in the Field, Undergraduate

Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST466 Education In The Field

Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST491 Teaching Apprentice Tutorial

The teaching apprentice program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to assist in teaching a faculty member's course for academic credit.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT

EDST492 Teaching Apprentice Tutorial

The teaching apprentice program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to assist in teaching a faculty member's course for academic credit.
Offering: Host
Grading: OPT