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Faculty
Steven Selden
Professor
3112C
Benjamin Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-3566
selden@umd.edu
Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University
Joined faculty in 1977.
Dr. Steven Selden is currently Professor in the Education Policy and Leadership Department in the College of Education, at the University of Maryland College Park. He received a Fulbright Lectureship at the Beijing Normal University, People's Republic of China in 1994 and is the recipient of the University of Maryland's College Of Education's Outstanding Faculty Award, and the Education Press Association of America's Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Educational Journalism. He has written extensively on the history of the American Eugenics Movement. His most recent book is, Inheriting Shame: The Story of Eugenics and Racism in America (Teachers College Press, 1999) which has received the Gustavus Meyer Award for books contributing to anti-racist thought.
Dr. Selden recently presented a report of his research, “Better Babies into Fitter Families: the American Eugenics Movement,” to the Florida International University's Honors College Reflections Speaker Series http://hon.fiu.edu/~honors/email/2006/01_20/seldenlecture.htm
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Teaching and Research Interests
Dr. Selden offers courses on general curriculum theory and development as well as in the areas of higher education curriculum and teaching improvement. Dr. Selden takes a critical theory analysis of curricular issues with a focus on the issues of race, class, and theories of social justice. His research interests include a critical historical analysis of the history of the American Eugenics Movement in early twentieth century America and its links to education policies and practices. In addition, he focuses on the improvement of teaching the context of higher education. Based on his work as a Fulbright Scholar in China in 1994, he is undertaking comparative studies of the Chinese and American school curriculums.
Teaching Evaluation
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Selected Publications
Books
Articles in Refereed Journals/Electronic Databases
- Selden, S. (2000, Fall). Eugenics and the Social Construction of
Merit, Race, and Disability. Journal of Curriculum Studies.
- Selden, S. (1999, Fall). Popularizing Eugenics, Image Archive
on the American Eugenics Movement, an on-line archive of materials
from national databases relating the popular eugenics movement in
America. Sponsored by a grant from the Ethical, Legal, and Social
Influences (ELSI) division of the Human Genome Project. Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory's DNA Learning Center (http://vector.cshl.org/eugenics/)
Teaching And Learning News Articles
- Selden, S. (January/February 2000). Learning From The Scholars:
Implications for Teaching From The College Park American Cultures
Scholars Program. Teaching and Learning News. College Park:
Center For Teaching Excellence.
- Selden, S. (January/February 2000). Learning From The Scholars:
Implications for Teaching From The College Park American Cultures
Scholars Program, Teaching and Learning News. College Park:
Center For Teaching Excellence.
- Selden, S. (November/December 1999). From College Park and Langley
Park to Hanoi: Active Learning on an International Scale. Teaching
and Learning News. College Park: Center For Teaching Excellence.
- Selden, S. (September/October 1999). Interaction, Voice, and Viewpoints:
Effective Teaching in Criminal Justice. Teaching and Learning News.
College Park: Center For Teaching Excellence
Chapters in Books
- Selden, S. (2001). Eugenics. In L. Breslow (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Public Health. NY: Macmillan.
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Presentations, Abstracts, and Other Professional Papers (Selected)
Invited Presentations, International
- General Education in American Universities: A Historical Overview
and A Discussion of Contemporary Initiatives at the University of
Maryland at College Park, Invited paper before the International Conference
on the Role of General Education in Higher Education, Taipei, Taiwan,
April 25-26, 1996.
- Improving University Instruction Through Skills Development and
Institutional Change, Seminar for Ecuadorian University Faculty on
the Improvement of College Teaching, Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador,
July, 1995. (With Drs. James Greenberg and Roberta Lavine.
- Trends in American Education With Specific Reference to The Current
Chinese Situation," BNU program in Comparative Education, Beijing
Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, December 27,
1994.
- Privatization Efforts in American Education: The Case of Whittle
Communications Curricular Initiative, Channel One," American Center
for Educational Exchange, Beijing, People's Republic of China, November
19, 1994.
Invited/Refereed Presentations
- Popular Culture, Scientific Racism and the History of the High School Science Curriculum in the Interwar Years," School of Education and Human Services, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan April 2000.
- Popular Culture, Scientific Racism and the History of the High School Science Curriculum in the Interwar Years," School of Education and Human Services, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan April 2000.
- Inheriting Shame: The Story of Eugenics and Racism," Howard County Social Studies Teachers Professional Day. Howard County Maryland, March 17, 2000.
- Kuhnian Views of Eugenics at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: Was the Change from Galton to Mendel A 'Revolution'? Symposium on Science, Race, and Education, Annual Meeting of the National Association of Science Teachers, New Orleans, April 2000.
- Inheriting Shame: The Story of Eugenics and Racism in America, Division F, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, April 2000.
- Popular and Mainstream Eugenic Knowledge in the 1920s: Merit, Race, and Foucault's 'Gaze'", Division B, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, April 2000.
- Eugenics, Racism, and American Social Policies in the 1920s, Washington Hebrew Congregation Amram Sunday Scholars Series, Washington, DC, March 2000.
- Eugenics and American Educational Policy: A Historical Overview. Faculty and Student Symposium, Boston University, February 2000.
- Creating Race and Disability in Fairs and Textbooks, National Association for Multicultural Education, San Diego, November 1999.
- The School Curriculum and the Construction of Race in America, American Association of Teachers of Curriculum (AATC), Orlando, October 1999.
- The Impact of Eugenical Ideology on Culture and Curriculum, Founders Address, National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME), San Diego, November 1999.
- Eugenics, Education, and Popular Culture: Eugenics Moves From the State Fair to the Classroom. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, April 1999.
- Inheriting Shame: The Story of Eugenics, Racism, and American Education, Phi Delta Kappa Lecture. Florida International University, March 1999.
Invited Presentations, Regional
- Eugenics and Multiculturalism in America, Institute for Intercultural Understanding (IIU), Baltimore City Community College, March 30, 2000.
- Race Thinking and the Helping Professions: A Review of Historical
Complexity. University of Maryland Counseling Center Spring Research and Development Seminar. University of Maryland, March 8, 2000.
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Leadership Roles
- AERA Division B Program Chair
- Program Coordinator, Curriculum Theory and Development
- Series Organizer, EDPL CEPAL Colloquium Series
- Column Editor, "What Works in College Teaching," Center For
Teaching Excellence Newsletter
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Fellowships, Prizes, and Awards
- Millennial Seminar Grant, for 1999-2000 CEPAL Colloquium Series.
Celebration 2000, Annapolis MD, $500, January 2000.
- Certificate of Appreciation, Diversity at University of Maryland:
Moving Toward Community Initiative, April 1999.
- UMCP General Research Board Summer Award, The Capturing of Science:
Race Betterment, Eugenics, and American Education, 1903-1948, $7500,
1998.
- 1995 - College of Education, Vernon Anderson Award for Excellence
in Teaching, Research and Service
- 1994 - Fulbright Lecturer, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's
Republic of China.
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Service
- Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Committee on the History and
Philosophy of Science, University of Maryland, College Park.
- Review Board, Teaching and Change, Journal of the National Education Association, National Center for Innovation.
- Reviewer:
- American Journal of Education
- American Educational Research Journal
- Curriculum Inquiry
Dr. Selden's Curriculum Vitae

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Courses Taught
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