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At Brown University, students study education from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. The faculty — social scientists, historians, and field-based experts — teach a wide array of undergraduate courses that comprise the Education Studies Concentration, lead two graduate programs (Master of Arts in Teaching, and Urban Education Policy), and conduct research on important educational issues.

The Programs in Education

*View Education Department Undergraduate Courses*
Students with questions about Education courses or the Education Studies concentration should contact Luther Spoehr, Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Talks and Lectures

Click here for upcoming and past UEP Speaker Series presenters

Education Department News

The Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education has appointed Professor Kenneth Wong, Education Department Chair, to the 12-member Search Committee for the position of State Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.  The Search Committee will hold public meetings and is expected to recommend the finalists to the Board of Regents in early February 2009.
Representatives from the Master in Urban Education Policy (UEP) and Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Programs will be at the Idealist Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good in the following cities this fall:

  • New York City, September 10th
  • Boston, September 15th
  • Washington DC, September 19th
  • Los Angeles, October 1st
  • San Francisco, October 2nd
  • Chicago, October 20th
  • New Orleans, October 30th
  • Atlanta, November 3rd
Also, join us at the:
-Washington DC Graduate and Professional School Fair being held at George Washington University, on September 22nd
-Atlanta University Center Consortium, Graduate/Professional School Information & Recruitment Day, on October 15th
-Graduate and Professional Schools Information Day 2008 at University of Massachusetts Amherst, on October 29th
-Graduate & Professional School Fair at Princeton University, on November 7th
Additional information concerning the Idealist Graduate Fairs can be found at http://www.idealist.org/. We look forward to meeting you!
If state education agencies want to become more effective catalysts for school improvement, they need to develop "a shared focus, a common language, and greater coherence" among themselves, federal policymakers, school-district leaders, local school boards, and individual schools. That was one of the observations to emerge from a symposium last summer under the auspices of the Education Alliance and the Urban Education Policy program, both at Brown University. Now, an 80-page report of the two-day event, which brought together some 50 education leaders, has been made available online. Says the report's introduction: "There is a growing body of research, confirmed by our own practical experience working with states and districts across the eastern seaboard, that the system of public education is fragmented and lacks cohesiveness. There is no entity to 'blame' for this fragmentation. The fact that the fragmentation exists suggests that there is an opportunity to dramatically improve the system of public education by fostering coherence and aligning structures and processes within and across levels of the system." http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/csrqi/symposium.pdf
The Education Department's Teacher Education Program welcomes two new members this fall: Maureen Sigler, Lecturer in Education, will direct the History/Social Studies MAT Program, and Daniel Bisaccio will direct the Science / Biology MAT Program. Ms. Sigler, who served as Interim Director of the History/Social Studies Program last year, has an M.Ed. from Harvard in Administration, Planning, and Social Philosophy and a B.A. from Trinity College. She taught for two years at D.C. Prep Academy and three years as a Teach for America Volunteer in the Washington, D.C., public schools, and was Curriculum Coordinator for the New Teacher Project at Mercy College in New York City.
Mr. Bisaccio served as Math/Science/Technology Division head at Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire, where he also taught biology, tropical ecology, and a seminar, Conservation biology and Literature. He has worked extensively in professional development for teachers, and his teaching methods and research have been featured in several books, on National Public Radio, and an CBS Television special. He is a member of the Smithsonian Institution's Caribbean Biodiversity Research Steering Committee.
Brown University Announces Commitment to Urban Education and Providence Public Schools for Class of 2009.
10 Urban Education Fellows will receive full tuition support for 2008-09:
* 8 Fellowships awarded to students in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program.
* 2 Fellowships awarded to students in the Master of Arts in Urban Education Policy (UEP) Program.
* Fellows commit to serve Providence-area urban schools for 3 years upon
graduation in exchange for loan forgiveness.

These commitments are inspired in part by the report to the University’s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.

Click here to view the December 2007 Education Studies Concentration Newsletter. This newsletter is an effort to build a network of graduates, post-graduates, current concentrators and all those working and studying in the Education Department at Brown while tracking the progress of our graduates in the field. The last (first) newsletter was created a year ago, and this year it is even more full of inspiring achievements by those students featured last year and who continue to contribute.

 

 

 

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