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.
| Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2-1 course |
Spring Semester information
Rebecca Alexander290A: Tps:Banned Books: Education, The Chicano/Latino Civil Rights Movement, and Ongoing Struggles for Critical Ethnic Studies in K-12
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 removed from classrooms in the Tucson Unified School District in 2010 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. We also connect this to current struggles over curricula, books, and teaching content in K-12 schools throughout the US.