Racial Justice in Urban Schooling Minor

The 15-credit racial justice in urban schooling minor prepares students to analyze educational practices that marginalize students from non-dominant social groups and to develop alternatives through liberatory curricula and pedagogies. This minor will critique contemporary commentary on urban education and support students whose educational interest is in the intersections of race, language status, social class, gender, or sexual orientation.

The central experiences in this minor bridge theoretical analysis with transformative pedagogies of possibilities, including culturally relevant pedagogy, funds of knowledge, and inquiry approaches. Students explore the relationships among home, community, and school cultures for students of color, focusing on classroom contexts, but extending outside of school spaces to educational practices and insights of households and community organizations. Students partner with a school to produce critical digital media that address local issues of urban education. Students select additional core coursework in critical perspectives in education on either race, class, or language and in ethnic or gender studies classes.

Students who combine this minor with an undergraduate degree in liberal arts, sciences, or ethnic studies will position themselves to critically engage their communities on educational issues or for graduate work in secondary teacher licensure, educational policy, and other educational studies.