Cultural Studies in Education

Adinkra Symbol of Wisdom,
Knowledge, and Prudence

Cultural Studies in Education (CSE) is an interdisciplinary field that brings perspectives from the humanities and social sciences to bear on the study of education. It recognizes that educational systems are situated in the context of culture, knowledge, and power. CSE seeks to investigate and analyze the dynamic relationship between schooling, education, popular culture and society with interpretive, normative, critical and comparative theory and methods.

Mate Masie = “What I Hear, I Keep”
The implied meaning of the phrase is "I understand." Understanding means wisdom and knowledge, but it also represents the prudence of taking into consideration what another person has said.

CSE Programs
CSE is designed to meet the academic needs of a variety of individuals and considers the diversity of its students and faculty a strength. CSE offers a master's degree as part of the larger Curriculum and Instruction graduate program in The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education.

Please be advised that admission to the doctoral program in Cultural Studies in Education has been suspended beginning with the coming 2009-2010 academic year forward until further notice. If you have questions, please contact the chair of the Department of Educational Studies.

The Cultural Studies in Education Master’s program at Ohio University prepares students with the aim of developing educator-learners-researchers who are committed to working for social justice domestically and trans-nationally. The program is multi-disciplinary and offers critical and analytical perspectives on the philosophical, historical, sociological, political, economic and cultural dynamics as it relates to education, understood broadly. Our academic program is built upon the theoretical framework from the relatively new academic field of Cultural Studies as a means for examining how culture, knowledge, and power within the intersections of race, class, and gender among others shape education, which, in turn, shapes society.

The intent and goals of the masters’ program is to have students engage in a deep and thorough understanding of the relationship between the socio-political context of education through an analysis from the lens of applicable social sciences. A number of our masters’ students choose to obtain a dual masters’ degree with our program. The two most common programs in this regard are International Studies and Linguistics (Teaching English as a Second Language in higher education settings). Matching our academic program with other disciplines demonstrates how broadly we envision and define “education” acknowledging that it occurs throughout society. The CSE Master’s program is not directed towards students desiring a licensure in teaching.

The Cultural Studies in Education program construes education as encompassing the varied forms that education takes in a society: systems of education embedded within communities, business, government, non-governmental agencies and the media, as well as post-secondary higher education opportunities. With this in mind, our program attracts students most interested in these informal or higher education sites of education as they are most often the socio-political sites where social justice work can be accomplished and/or the lack thereof critiqued.

Students entering CSE programs will take core courses in Cultural Studies, prepare themselves in methods of inquiry appropriate to their research interests, and plan a course of study for an individualized concentration, including course work outside of The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education.

CSE Students
CSE students bring a broad spectrum of prior academic preparation and various professional goals. Some students are interested in enriching their understanding of democratic education, critical pedagogy, diversity and co-culturalism. Others are interested in alternative forms of education, such as expeditionary learning.

In addition, CSE students include those who are interested in issues of diversity and education as they may relate to work in communications, the media, human resource and equity departments, community organizing, social justice non-profit organizations focusing on topics such as the environment, human rights, and feminist work, and community and international development work, often related to the United Nations and other organizations.

CSE students, both international and domestic, are assured that the CSE program upholds and maintains a commitment to multiple perspectives and a multi vocal spirit. Our aim is to foster an intellectually nurturing foundation where students can experience a learning community within our program, the Department of Educational Studies, The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education, and Ohio University.

For more information, please contact: (see link about financial aid )
Jaylynne Hutchinson
Associate Professor, Educational Studies
Program Coordinator, Cultural Studies
McCracken Hall 321 E
740.593.9827
hutchinj@ohio.edu