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Educational Studies Program

The Educational Studies Major—Students must earn five credits in the core, four credits in a thematic concentration, and three other electives for a total of 12 credits counted toward the major.

Core sequence:

  • EDUC 200. Analyzing Schools (offered each semester)

  • EDUC 300. Education Reform: Past and Present (offered each year, ordinarily taken in the sophomore or junior year)

  • A research methods course selected in consultation with the director, to be completed no later than the junior year (advanced courses may require prerequisites).

    • ANTH 301. Anthropological Methods

    • ECON 318. Basic Econometrics

    • HIST 299 . Historiography

    • POLS 241L. Empirical Political Methods and Data Analysis

    • PSYC 221L. Research Design and Analysis

    • SOCL 201L. Research Methods in the Social Sciences

    • any other research methods course approved by the director

  • A research project course, where students conduct primary-source research on an educational studies topic using qualitative, quantitative, and historical methods, to be completed no later than the junior year.

    • EDUC 305. Immigrants and Education

    • EDUC 307. Latinos in Education

    • EDUC 308. Cities, Suburbs, and Schools

    • EDUC 309. Race, Class , and Educational Policy

    • PSYC 310. Psychology of Gender

    • PSYC 395. Cognitive and Social Development

    • PSYC 415. Development and Culture

    • any other course or independent study with an educational studies primary source research project approved by the director

  • EDUC 400. Senior Research Seminar. To fulfill the senior exercise requirement, students design and carry out an independent research project that builds upon acquired skills and evolving interests. The weekly seminar provides a thematic focus as well as a continuous forum for both support and critical feedback from peers, in preparation for a public presentation of the student’s work at the end of the semester. Usually offered in the fall semester of the senior year, with the option of continuing as a one-credit senior thesis (EDUC 497) in the spring semester. Prerequisites include the four core requirements listed above, plus a senior research project topic that must be submitted for approval by the educational studies faculty prior to April registration in the junior year.

The Writing Intensive Part II requirement is fulfilled by EDUC 400.

Concentration—A student-designed thematic concentration of four courses, at least three of which must be at the 300 level or above. Previous students have designed concentrations in numerous areas (such as learning, cognition, and development; urban education; gender and schooling; sociology of education; international education). A written proposal, which delineates the links between courses in the concentration and the student’s evolving interests, must be planned in consultation with the director and submitted upon declaration of the major.

Eligible courses for the concentration include:

  • Educational studies electives

  • EDUC 305. Immigrants and Education

  • EDUC 307 . Latinos in Education

  • EDUC 308 . Cities, Suburbs, and Schools

  • EDUC 309 . Race, Class, and Educational Policy

  • EDUC 315 . Higher Education in America

  • EDUC 316 . Education and Social Change Across the Globe

  • EDUC 318 . Special Education

  • EDUC 320 . Anthropol ogy and Education

  • EDUC 350 . Teaching and Learning

  • EDUC 399 . Independent Study

  • Cross-listed electives

  • AMST 355. Urban Mosaic

  • ENGL 318. Literacy and Literature

  • ENGL 406 . Contemporary Composition Studies

  • INTS 234. Gender and Education

  • PHIL 374. Minds and Brains (with lab)

  • POLS 224. Public Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice

  • POLS 311 . Administration and Public Policy

  • POLS 355 . Urban Politics

  • PBPL 303. Policy Implementation Workshop

  • PBPL 323 . Legal History of Race Relations

  • PSYC 223 . Psychosocial Perspectives of Asian Americans

  • PSYC 236. Adolescent Psychology

  • PSYC 246. Community Psychology

  • PSYC 255. Cognitive Psychology (with optional lab)

  • PSYC 256 . Learning and Memory (with optional lab)

  • PSYC 295 . Child Development (with optional lab)

  • PSYC 310. Psychology of Gender

  • PSYC 324. Stereotypes , Prejudice, and Discrimination

  • PSYC 326. Advanced Topics: Social Psyc hology of Ed ucation Systems

  • PSYC 332 . Psychological Assessment (with lab)

  • PSYC 356 . Cognitive Science (with lab)

  • PSYC 391 . Psychology of Language

  • PSYC 395 . Cognitive and Social Development

  • PSYC 401 and 402 . Senior Seminar (if relevant topic)

  • PSYC 415 . Development and Culture

  • SOCL 204 . Social Problems in American Society

  • SOCL 214 . Race and Ethnicity

  • SOCL 312 . Social Class and Mobility

  • SOCL 351 . Social, State, and Power

  • THDN 332 . Education Through Movement

  • Any other course, independent study, or thesis relevant to educational studies and approved by the director. If the research project is to be double-counted toward the concentration, then the student must designate a fourth course to be counted toward the other electives section to maintain a total of 12 courses toward the major.

Other Electives—Three other electives, either in educational studies or approved cross-listed courses, but not necessarily linked to the student’s concentration.

At least three departments or programs (i.e., educational studies and two others) must be represented in the total number of credits. Only courses in which the student earns a grade of at least C- may be counted toward the major.

Double Major—Students considering a double major (such as psychology and educational studies, or sociology and educational studies) are encouraged to plan their schedules early in consultation with their advisers. Selected courses for an educational studies major may also be applied toward fulfillment of the student’s other major, if listed or approved by both departments or programs.

Honors—Students must complete a senior research project with a grade A- or better, and earn a GPA of at least 3.50 in core courses in the major.

Teacher Preparation—Students who desire to teach should consult with educational studies faculty about the various routes available to them, including the consortial teacher preparation program at St. Joseph College in West Hartford, as well as alternate route certification programs, graduate school programs, and independent school teaching opportunities. For more information, see the "Pathways to Teaching" section of the educational studies Web site (www.trincoll.edu/depts/educ).