Critical Issues in Urban Education Part II: During this course we will examine our own and others’ assumptions that often complicate discussions of urban children, their communities, and their schools. We will look at some of the cultural, political, economic, historical and spiritual contexts, nationally and in East Baton Rouge Parish, that impact urban education. We will also investigate educational philosophies that suggest we use our classrooms and schools not only to create excellence for those least well-served by our educational system, but also as vehicles of transformation for disenfranchised communities.

Identity, Culture & Curriculum in a Global Context: How are identities and cultures of peoples “on the margins” – for example, women, peoples of color, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people, “inner city” children, immigrants – represented and negotiated in curriculum and teaching, school and society? What are the challenges related to as well as the transformative possibilities that emerge from deconstructing marginalization in local, national, and global contexts of education? We will draw on postcolonial and feminist theories as well as narrative as we consider these questions and discuss implications for theory, research, and practice at all levels of education. Core readings include the works of Frantz Fanon, Trinh Minh-ha, bell hooks. We will also engage films (such as Black Skin White Masks, Strange Fruit, Real Women have Curves) and novels/memoirs (such as Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, Funny Boy).