Education in a Polarized and Unequal Society - Spring 2022

The rise in political polarization and social inequality over the past few decades has challenged the ideals that public schools were founded on nearly two centuries ago.  In the past few years, we have witnessed a surge in homophobic, racist, misogynist, and xenophobic rhetoric in our society and our schools.  At the same time, educators across this country and around the globe have been engaged in the difficult work of challenging oppression and injustice in their schools, communities, and nation. These educators know that the future of our democracy is at stake.

Using a historical and sociological framework, this course examines the past and present conditions that have led to political polarization, escalating inequality, and persistent injustice.  It seeks to examine the lineage of racism, sexism, nativism, and imperialism in our nation and its schools and to consider the extent to which these challenges are uniquely American or part of a more global phenomenon. 

The place-based final projects in this collection span the globe and build on the questions about polarization, inequality, and injustice as well as resistance, protest, and action that we explored in class. We invite you to explore what we have done below. Many of our projects are based in the United States, so please zoom in on the map to see them more clearly.