Topics

Assorted topics related to the field of education and education-related issues. May be repeated with different topics for credit. May not be taken pass/fail.

Current Semester Information

290A: Tps:Crit Theory/Pedagogy

Tps:Critical Theory, Critical Pedagogy

"Education either functions as an instrument which is used to ... bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women ... participate in the transformation of their world." (Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed).

How do we create educational projects dedicated to the practice of freedom--projects that unleash people's capacity to challenge injustice in their everyday lives and act to change the world around them? In this course we will explore this question through deep engagement with liberatory educational movements. We will also work to build a democratic educational space in our own classroom. As an EDUC 290A student you will learn about, experiment with and analyze the techniques of critical pedagogy--examining how educational projects address rural poverty, civil rights, queer justice, native sovereignty, and educational injustices in schools and communities. This course will be creative, active, collective and deeply thought provoking. Join us!

290B: Tps:Banned Books

Tps:Banned Books? Education and The Chicano/Latino Civil Rights Struggle from LA to Tucson

The civil rights movement in education is most prominently associated with the Brown v. Board of Education decision and the desegregation of public schools in the United States, but this decision is actually part of a much broader movement. From the Lau v. Nichols decision which challenged discrimination against Chinese speakers, to the Serrano v. Priest decision which contested inequitable funding in California, the civil rights movement in education has historically been a broad-based, multi-racial struggle with multiple, sometimes competing, visions of what education can and should be. The Chicano/Latino civil rights struggle--from the Serrano decision, to the LA School Walkouts, to the battle over Mexican-American studies in Arizona--has been a critical component of this ongoing movement. This course looks at the Chicano/Latino civil rights movement through the lens of books recently removed from classrooms in the Tucson Unified School District when its governing board disbanded the Mexican-American studies program in that district. In this course we will read these "banned" books, placing them in context and exploring their content through an examination of educational theory, historic court cases, social theory, Chicano/Latino history and current events.