ANTH 2020 Diversity and Equity in Schools

Schools are central to the socialization of youngsters and to the formation and maintenance of modern nation-states. American schools transmit core values and knowledge and support a meritocracy where social mobility seems the outcome of talent and effort. While offering freedom and opportunity, they reproduce social structures and perpetuate systems of class, gender, and race inequality. This course critically analyzes the role that schools play in the cultural production of the “educated” person. It identifies links between school practices and the community, the state, and the economy, which help explain the disproportionate failure of disadvantaged groups. The course challenges future teachers to think about schools as sites of intense cultural politics and to consider the effects of history and power on educational processes. Course offered Fall and Spring Semesters.
Credits: 3.0