About EDPS

Message from the Chair

Francine H. Hultgren
Professor and Interim Chair

I am pleased to welcome you to our Department of Education Policy Studies' Web site. As a new department, we share the excitement of creating new spaces for our work as an academic community committed to critical and discipline-based studies of education policy. As a faculty, we value interdisciplinary collaboration and multiple ways of knowing as we engage students in examining the social, cultural, economic, historic, philosophical and political contexts in which education occurs. Faculty are nationally and internationally known for these discipline areas as well as for their rich and diverse research methodological traditions.

Our three areas of specialization (Curriculum Theory, Socio-cultural Foundations of Education, and Education Policy) offer graduate students an intellectually engaging array of courses to develop programs tailored to their interests and faculty expertise. The department also offers undergraduate courses in social foundations of education, and historical, philosophic and contemporary perspectives of education for students in teacher education, as well as for the university student population as a whole.

In addition to formal course work, students will find opportunities for engaging in a variety of projects and experiences brought about by the scholarly interests of an energetic faculty. Two centers, CEPAL - the Center for Education Policy and Leadership, and ICTE - the International Center for Transcultural Education, allow for stimulating interactions and engagement in policy and transcultural initiatives in a variety of venues. Research partnerships with local school districts, professional organizations and government agencies provide unique opportunities for students to conduct studies of education policies and practices. Through the Diversity and Community in America Colloquium Series, students and faculty can engage with leading public intellectuals and policy makers around issues of democratic polity. And in the interest of building student community around research interests, student groups are sponsored by faculty members, such as the Hermescircle, which brings students together around phenomenological dissertation writing.

Please explore our EDPS Web site to find more information about our programs, faculty, students, research and outreach. As we continue to grow, so will our Web site. I hope our enthusiasm is captured in the possibilities we envision for our work together and the endless opportunities that new beginnings allow in an intellectual community of like minded scholars.

Sincerely,

Francine H. Hultgren
Professor and Interim Chair

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