Education, the Family, and Inequality
Is education an engine of social mobility, or does it mainly reproduce the status quo? What role does the family play in educational achievement? For instance, do family differences in upbringing affect educational outcomes later in life? Which students are most at risk in the education system, and what can be done to help them? This course will examine these questions with a special emphasis on higher education. In the process, students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own educational experiences.
The first writing project will allow students to grapple with two of the major theoretical perspectives on education and inequality, while the second writing project will allow students to raise their own questions, which they will address in a class research project that will form the basis of the third writing project. The first two writing projects will be 3-4 pages, while the third project will be somewhat longer (7-8 pages). In addition, students will write short, weekly reflection papers that will be the basis of much of class discussion.
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