The Educational Studies Major

Education, Culture, and Society

Students interested in social contexts of education (including disciplinary perspectives from anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy); understanding education in family, school, and community contexts; understanding how race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and disability affect education.

Comparative and International Education

Students primarily interested in education outside of the US context. Areas of study include social contexts of education; educational policy; humanitarian, peace, and education in emergencies.

Educational Policy

Students whose primary interest is in educational policy-making (across any context). Students in this concentration will study the political, social, economic, and organizational factors that impact schools and educational policy at local, state, and national levels. Students will explore how educational policy is embedded within other broader contexts, for example, urban and rural contexts; or welfare policies of particular nation-states; or post conflict reconstruction efforts.

The major in Educational Studies requires field placements. As a result, it is important for the Barnard Education Program faculty to know who is planning to move forward with the major.
 

To declare the Educational Studies major:

1. Attend an Open House;
   Please visit News and Events to view our next Open House date(s). If you cannot attend an Open House, please schedule a meeting with an Education faculty member to discuss the major.
    
2. Meet with a Faculty Adviser for Program Plan Approval (required); 
   You will meet with a faculty adviser, who will learn more about your goals and expectations, as well as review your Educational Studies program plan. At the end of the meeting, your faculty adviser will approve your program plan. You MUST meet with a faculty adviser and have your program plan approved to be considered "declared" for the major in our program.
   
   Unless you have met with an Education faculty member who you'd like to serve as an adviser, please select a faculty adviser below:
   
   Professor Abu El-Haj
   Professor Kitzmiller
   Professor Throop
   Professor Miranda
    
3. Declare the Major to the Barnard Registrar. In order to have the Educational Studies major appear on your transcript, you must submit a Major Declaration Form to the Registrar listing the courses in your program plan (BC students only).

Please note that all forms listed above will require approval from the Education Program chair. Please submit forms requiring the chair’s approval to the Barnard Education Program.

Petitioning a Non-Major Course for an Education Studies Requirement

If you wish to fulfill a requirement with a course not listed in Requirements for the Education Studies Minor/Special Concentration, you must fill out the Petition to Count a Course for an Education Requirement before enrolling in the course. Your faculty adviser will review your petition and inform you of a decision.

Students who major in Educational Studies will all be required to take a set of core courses offered by the Education Program, and will develop a specialization in one of three concentrations (see below), or will design a special concentration in consultation with their major advisor. Courses for the specialization will include electives offered not only by the Education Program faculty, but also by faculty across the university.