Teaching

Qualitative Investigations of Educational Inequalities

This seminar asks students to critically examine recent writings on education that take a qualitative approach to the study of culture, race, class, gender, and cumulative disadvantage in the lives of children and youth. Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, the leveler of social differences. Yet schools and colleges are sites where inequality thrives. What are the social processes that lead to the reproduction of inequality in these locales? This course will consider how cultural and structural forces amplify social inequalities. Additionally, the seminar asks students to think through practice and policy suggestions for schools, universities, and national political officials to address, alleviate, or disrupt this process. The final writing assignment for this course is practical in nature: students will craft either an opinion piece for a news outlet, book review suited for an academic journal, or panel proposal for academic association. 

C.R.E.A.M.: Class and Culture on U.S. Colleges and Universities

“Cash Rules Everything Around Me.” This course adds culture to that well-known mantra from popular music. In doing so, this course explores the persisting inequality of class and culture that students face throughout college. We will examine how this inequality shapes different aspects of the college experience, from admission applications to career destinations. Students in the course will be introduced to current writings on class and culture on the college campus, with specific focus on the four years between college entry and exit. The material in the course is designed to push students to think not only about the inequality on the campus, but also through policies and practices aimed to address the reproduction of inequality on the college campus. Through lectures, readings, presentations, and class discussion we will probe how inequality manifests itself on the college campus and think through the promises and pitfalls of different interventions, polices, and practices.