Our research, teaching, and practice approaches support a vision of public education that has as its goal equity and inclusion at all levels—classroom, school, community, district, state, national, and global—and that positively impacts personal growth and social transformation. Our renowned faculty engage students in theoretical and practical studies, providing opportunities to develop interdisciplinary scholarship, as well as to participate in field studies, unpack the history and philosophy of education, and explore cutting edge research.
The cluster descriptions below apply to doctoral and master's students who enrolled in BSE programs prior to fall 2027.
Our faculty engage in interdisciplinary analysis to understand the functions, limits, and possibilities of schooling. In particular, race, class, and gender relations are social forces that inform and shape the organization of schools and various educational spaces including formal and informal learning communities. Our faculty also examine the transformative functions of language and literacy keeping in constant view their potential to effect social change and create more just societies. We explore the role of schooling in building and sustaining a democratic society in the face of social inequality, economic restructuring, and changing social relations in the nation-state. Examples include the political activities of students and teachers in and out of school, the pedagogy of radical social movements, the root causes and effects of white supremacy and settler colonialism in education, the knowledge valued as the official curriculum, policies concerning discipline or funding, and disparities between educational contexts and in learning outcomes. Our vision for the cluster has led us to develop the areas of interest listed below.
- Critical Social and Cultural Theories
- Globalization, Immigration, and Migration
- Race & Social Inequality in Urban Education
- Domination and Resistance across Educational Settings
- Social Identities in Educational Contexts
- Language, Literacy, and Digital Media
The faculty in the Language, Literacy, and Culture (LLC) cluster investigate language and literacy practices in relation to sociocultural, historical, technological, and ideological formations. In their research and teaching, our faculty members represent interdisciplinary areas of study across the humanities, social sciences, and education. They expand beyond traditional disciplinary divisions, in theory and methods, to nurture collaborative and participatory approaches at the intersection of research and action. Our faculty and students conduct research in local and international contexts and study language and literacy in a wide range of institutional and informal settings, including classrooms, homes,healthcare centers, community organizations, and online environments. As a scholarly community, they advocate for cultural and linguistic diversity in research, practice, and policy, with special emphasis on access, equity and innovation in education. Their vision of language, literacy, and culture affirms language and literacy education as crucially important to social justice and participatory democracy. Areas of interest include:
- Sociocultural aspects of language use and development across the lifespan
- Linguistic and cultural diversity in language and literacy education
- Intersections of disability and language and literacy learning
- Race and inequality in language and literacy education
- Bi/multilingualism and translanguaging in schools and communities
- Indigenous language maintenance and education in local and global contexts
- Literacy in a Digital Age
- Literacy in and out of School
Faculty study, design and participate in transformative approaches to individual and social development, approaches within schools and classrooms, and across diverse sites and contexts in communities, workplaces and social movements. Students will examine how to promote equity and honor socio-cultural and linguistic diversity; transform schools, technology, and other educational spaces; support teachers as learners; and foster promising social futures for all youth. Areas of interest include:
- Cognitive, Human, and Social Development
- Mathematics and Science Education
- Teacher Learning and Education
- Technology and Digital Media
Faculty delve into the broad landscape of influences—namely, history, social and economic policy, and politics—and the organizational features of the institutions that sustain the nation’s diverse array of local schools and districts. Faculty conduct both social science research and teach in the economics, sociology, history, and politics of education. Together, faculty hold a commitment to fine empirical work—whether qualitative or quantitative—that illuminates the motivations, values, and practices shaping common cause and stakeholder conflict as we try to improve public education. Areas of interest include:
- Leadership in Educational Organizations
- Policy Analysis and Program Implementation
- Politics of Education Advocacy
- School Improvement
Our faculty develop and apply state-of-the-art qualitative and quantitative methods for research, assessment, and program evaluation in education. We have expertise ranging from design-based research, ethnography and interviewing, to statistics, measurement, and data science. Students will learn the theory underpinning social research methods and how to apply them in sophisticated and innovative ways to inform education policy and practice. Areas of interest include:
- Data Science
- Design-Based Research
- Evaluation
- Measurement
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Statistics and Econometrics
Questions about the BSE’s academic programs may be directed to a member of the Student Services team.