Course Overview: In this course, we will discuss a variety of contemporary issues in education both domestically and internationally. More specifically, we will examine how the globalization of interconnected and interlocking systems of oppression such as anti-blackness, settler colonialism, imperialism, neoliberalism, and cisheteropatriarchy have informed the meaning and shape of education around the world. We will critically examine and deconstruct our understanding of what constitutes education and formal schooling both in the United States and abroad with the primary goal of decentering ethnocentric paradigms of schooling and reimagining justice oriented ways of learning and knowing.
Course Description (from catalog): 3 hours, 3 credits. Connections between education and society, including political and economic institutions from a global and comparative perspective. Analysis of systems of social inequality based on relevant data from the U.S. and other nations and cultures.
Required Prerequisite: To take this course you must have taken either SOC 166 or a 200-level sociology course prior to enrollment.
Class Format: The format of this class is multimodal and deploys a combination of activities, guided facilitation with mini-lectures, and group discussions. We will also screen occasional films that are germane to course content. Please be aware that we will treat films as visual texts and deploy a critical media analysis and lens to our viewing experiences. But feel free to grab some popcorn along the way!
This course is predicated on reciprocity in learning. This means that you’re are expected to join class prepared and ready to engage, learn, and teach. We will co-construct knowledge in our classroom. To do this effectively, it’s important that you’re prepared by being familiar with the readings and course material. Being prepared not only ensures that you get the most out of the course; it makes for a lively and interesting class. Please be aware that this course will heavily integrate the use of group activities in the form of small group discussions as well as round table panel facilitations. Throughout the semester, we will also engage in individual reflective exercises and activities.
Course Learning Objectives
In this course, students will:
- Gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources.
- Evaluate evidence and arguments critically or analytically.
- Produce well reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions.
Course Materials: All readings will either be embedded on our CUNY Commons course site or posted on BlackBoard. Blackboard readings will be denoted by a bold BB on our course schedule. I will often refer to specific passages and facilitate activities and/or discussion that necessitates the use of the course readings. Please make sure you’re familiar with the course content so that the class is meaningful for you.
ATLAS Participation: You may (or may not) have noticed that this course has a “TT” designation on CUNY First. That’s because this class is a part of the ATLAS initiative at Lehman College. The ATLAS (“Anchored in the Liberal Arts”) initiative is a partnership between Lehman College and the Teagle Foundation. This means our class will draw in part from a list of transformative texts identified and provided by the ATLAS initiative. The works we’ll read are interdisciplinary and inclusive with the intention to create space for critical investigation of the world and examination of the self.
