Course Catalog

Education affects the lives of everyone in this country. As future professionals, voters, teachers, parents, and leaders, students at the University of Michigan will help shape the quality of life in the United States, and education will matter – a lot. This course will introduce students to the role of education in today’s world. Topics will include the implications for schooling our increasingly diverse population; principles of how kids learn; ways schools facilitate student achievement (or not); and the changing nature of literacy in the information age. In addition to readings and discussions, there will be opportunities for hands-on experience and interactions with K-12 students in schools.  

EDUC 118 is an approved course to satisfy the LSA Race and Ethnicity Requirement.

Students in this course will explore various ideas about what it means to learn and how those ideas have impacted educational practice. They will explore relationships among learning, education, and power, in addition to investigating the design of learning environments that promote empowerment and/or social change.

This class meets the Race & Ethnicity requirement.

Education Policy in a Multicultural Society explores policy and school improvement, and focuses in particular on the U.S. public school system, with an emphasis on both equity and access. In this course we begin by asking: what is public education for, and then consider how schools can be improved so that educational outcomes are ambitious and equitable. We build on students' understandings of the practice of teaching, developed in ED118, to investigate the dynamics of education reform.

We closely examine authentic texts – including artifacts from our own experiences in schools, as well as mandates and legislative texts, policies, data on school improvement, and other resources designed for the improvement of schools. We critically examine each of these, looking for assumptions about teaching and learning and their improvement, assessing the key levers for improvement that they provide, and extrapolating implications for the design and valuation of change. In so doing students will develop critical skills of analysis and interpretation that will enable them to (1) better understand and evaluate efforts to improve schooling in the United States, (2) collaborate substantively, (3) and write and speak about educational policy persuasively. Given the courses strong focus on equity and access, issues of inclusion, voice, and rigor will be consistent through-lines.

Coaching for Today's Society is a course designed to aid students in reaching people where they currently are. You will not be a successful coach if you do not know and understand your audience. In order to be effective when reaching out to your audience you must be able to paint a picture or create a shared vision that resonates with your audience on all sensory levels. During this course we will identify and discuss the basic tenets associated with our targeted groups from same age/similar thought processes to multi-generational influencers (Boomers). Coaching in the broad sense deals with basic interpersonal skill sets to help you build a solid foundation however understanding how to coach in today's complex society goes beyond the foundation. We will identify and discuss the roles of family/life experiences, cultural nuances and how social norms play in helping or inhibiting us from connecting with people whether at the high school level, college level or in the workforce. At the end of the course you will feel confident working with diverse groups of people in any given setting.

This course prepares students to effectively share the arts and artistic practice with the public. Through partnerships with UMMA and local arts organizations, students develop practical skills for leading workshops, tours, and residencies with diverse audiences. The course builds confidence in facilitation and teaching approaches centered on equity and access for all communities. Includes observations, practice teaching, and networking with professional teaching artists. Ideal for students in visual arts, music, theatre, dance, creative writing, and related fields.

This course explores how environmental justice intersects with earth systems, development, and land use in both urban and rural communities. Students examine scientific principles of soil, air, and water while engaging with community voices and stakeholders to understand political, social, and ecological impacts. Incorporating both traditional and Indigenous scientific approaches, the course highlights how policy, community contributions, urban gardens, and systemic inequalities shape environmental outcomes.

This course aims to support students in becoming critical consumers of educational policy issues in both media and educational research. We examine ideologies and levers used in past and current educational reform efforts that reflect multiple views on the purpose of schools, the role of educators, and the functions of policies and policy makers.

This seminar will provide a deep understanding of the complexity of race, ethnicity, and culture within the stories of historic and contemporary Detroit. Emphasis will be on skills for critical analysis, creativity, and communication, place-based literacies and learning, and learning from and advocating for the city and its people.

In this course, we will explore:

• The long history of Detroit, as well as its contemporary relevance (Miles, Sugrue, Foley)
• Detroit’s outsized contribution to 20th and 21st century poetry (Blair, Levine, moore, Hughes, Murray, Langford, Rogers)
• A multiple award-winning dramatic cycle (Morriseau)
• Books for young readers (Shapiro and Brantley-Newton, Yoo, LaDelle)
• Literary novels (Flournoy, Eugenides, Foley)
• Graphic novels (Ahmed, other)
• Literary communities in Detroit (Source Booksellers, others)

Students will engage in a number of high-interest activities throughout the course of the semester, including several field trips and visits with guest speakers, building toward a final project rooted in one of the areas above.

This course meets with EDUC 513.

This course will explore how institutions of Sport, Education and Business serve as key spaces to build and uphold transformative systems to center equity and empower individuals.  The course will highlight key moments where these institutions have promoted equity and fostered empowerment resulting in greater diversity, inclusion, justice and belonging.  Case studies of teams and leaders/coaches that disrupt inequity in sport, education and business will be critically analyzed and explored at personal, interpersonal, institutional and systemic levels.  

As we examine leaders who work for more just institutions we will identify systems that also create, maintain, and promote inequity in the United States.  Students will confront practices of inequity within Systems of Oppression along the lines of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability/disability, and body type.  Students will be challenged and guided to become more action-oriented in their current spheres of influence to be catalysts to disrupt inequity and advance justice in rapidly evolving and complex social structures.   Students will learn and practice leadership skills to promote equity and empowerment in their future professions and play a key role in leveraging their power to advance justice.

As a microcosm of society, sport has both challenged and reinforced inequality. This dynamic, project-based course explores the historical and contemporary intersection of sport and society, with a focus on sport’s role in education, public pedagogy, and social transformation. Students will examine how athletes, coaches, and teams have used their platforms to advance social justice and activism, while also critically analyzing how sport functions as a form of public pedagogy, shaping what people learn about equity, access, participation, and rights both inside and beyond the classroom.

This course examines climate justice education and action as an educational, political, and community-based practice. Students explore how educators, schools, and community organizations can engage children and youth in responding to climate change in ways that center equity, lived experience, and collective responsibility in both formal and informal settings. Topics include critical pedagogies, place-based and Indigenous education, youth activism, and curriculum design. Through critical readings, case studies, and collaborative projects students develop educational initiatives that support meaningful action and democratic participation among children and youth.

Why are video games fun? The answer isn’t as obvious as you might think. Good games draw you in, teach you how to succeed, and keep you engaged with a “just right” level of challenge. Most importantly, players *learn* while playing a well-designed game. Why isn’t school like that? This class takes a hard look at video games, a hard look at education, and considers ways that each can be improved to maximize learning.

Crosslisted with LSA DIGITAL 333

This course will take an academic approach to Name, Image & Likeness covering the following topics:
 

• Explore the historical aspects of college athletics, specifically focusing on compensation, growth, oversight, and issues related to race/gender inequity.
• Examine the funding model of college athletics, including key revenue sources such as conference distributions, brand licensing, apparel deals, and more.
• Analyze the challenges and opportunities presented by the introduction of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), considering other concurrent changes like the expanded transfer portal, conference realignment, and the momentum towards revenue sharing.
• Investigate the impact of emerging services from NIL such as Collectives, agents, investment advisors, as well as tax, law, and financial literacy services on college athletes.
• Assess the reactions and influence of external stakeholders tied to schools, such as fans, boosters, and donors, in response to NIL implementation.
• Examine relevant Federal rights and laws (Title IX, free speech, civil rights, IRS, Supreme Court) and their implications for NIL.
• Analyze the complexities of varying state laws, NCAA guidelines, and the process of reconciling them with other areas of oversight, and explore how these factors impact individual school policies.
• Explore the potential for additional athlete compensation through revenue sharing of TV, apparel, and media rights revenue, and evaluate its impact on the overall model of college athletics.
• Assess the overall impact, opportunities, threats, and new challenges faced by student-athletes, with a focus on understanding NIL implementation in both revenue and non-revenue sports.
• Speculate on the mid- and long-term future of college athletics, considering the challenges, influencing factors, and stakeholders discussed throughout the course.
   

Thriving in a world where increasingly capable generative Artificial Intelligence systems exists will require that you know something about them, and a great deal about yourself - how you can manage learning, working, and forming healthy relationships in this new context. The aim of this course is to help you develop an informed framework for navigating these changes. The course will combine foundational knowledge from cognitive science with practical engagement with AI tools and critical examination of their social, cultural, and ethical implications.