Controversies in American Education Policy: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Catalog description

Education lies at the center of some of the most important– and most heated – policy debates in the United States today. Policymakers argue over a whole host of topics: what role should the government play in schooling? How should schools best educate students to succeed in the 21st century economy? Do schools reproduce structural racism and inequality in society, or are they engines of opportunity and social mobility? Should students get to choose the school they attend? In this seminar, we will examine a range of current policy debates in education using an interdisciplinary approach. The study of education sits at the intersection of many social science disciplines. We will analyze these debates from the perspective of historians, sociologists, political scientists, and economists. Enrollment is limited to 19 first year students.