Programs in International and Comparative Education

Please check the Class Schedule or contact the center for specific course availability for each semester.

Program Courses:

• ITSF 4013
  Literacy and development

  This course examines common assumptions about the relationship between literacy and cognitive and/or social, political and/or economic development.

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett

• ITSF 4014
  Urban situations and education

  An introduction to the anthropological study of the sociocultural patterns of populations residing in urban settings, with emphasis on domestic, ethnic, class, and educational relationships.

  Instructor: George Bond

• ITSF 4015
  Introduction to computers, language, and literacy

  Sociocultural implications of computer use in education; viability of software use in the light of language learning theories; evaluation of electronic materials for use by bilingual, ESL, and native- and foreign-language learners. Materials fee: $20.

  Instructor: JoAnne Kleifgen

• ITSF 4018
  Anthropology and Development in Africa

  This seminar considers issues and problems of development in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines specific development projects from different theoretical and empirical perspectives.

  Instructor: George Bond

• ITSF 4025
  Languages, society, and schools

  This course studies the role that languages play in different societal contexts. It examines the language policies of different societies and looks at how these policies are enacted or not in different institutional contexts by diverse speakers. In doing so, the course pays attention to diverse language ideologies as well as to the relationship between language and identity. Languages and literacies in schools, especially educational language policy in multilingual contexts, receive special consideration.

• ITSF 4034
  Dynamics of family interaction

  An introduction to communication patterns inside families, with a special emphasis on both their complexity at the interpersonal level and their simplicity within the social structure of a community. Class time is dominated by cross-cultural data on family structure and videotape analyses of communication patterns within American families.

  Instructor: Herve Varenne

• ITSF 4054
  Education and strategic planning

  Educational planning within the context of national economic planning; the methods, assumptions, validity, and usefulness of the major approaches; examples mainly from the less developed countries.

• ITSF 4090
  Issues and institutions in international educational development

  This course explores theoretical approaches to the study of education in international development and uses these approaches to consider current topics and debates in the fields of international and comparative education. This course also introduces students to institutions involved with educational development in diverse global settings, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. This course is also offered at the doctoral level (ITSF 6581).

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 4091
  Comparative education

  Introduction to theories in comparative education, cross-national comparative analysis, educational indicator research, educational transfer and borrowing, and the relation between culture and education. This course is also offered at the doctoral level (ITSF 6580).

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett

• ITSF 4092
  Qualitative research and evaluation in international education

  The study of qualitative methodologies appropriate to various kinds of educational programs, issues, and problems in diverse research settings.

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett

• ITSF 4093
  International educational development: Curriculum and pedagogy

  This course explores the problems, issues, and approaches in the development of curricula, preparation of instructional materials, and training of educators internationally.

• ITSF 4094
  Educational planning in international educational development

  Point allocation to be determined by topic each time course is offered. Topic courses explore issues related to the socioeconomic and cultural context of educational planning and policy studies. They consider the relation to specific issues of various approaches to planning and their attendant outcomes. Topics vary and may include any of the following, Education in the Middle East, Educational Development in the Muslim World, Emergency Education, Gender, Education, and International Develop-ment, Human Rights, International Education Policy, and Education in Post-Conflict Settings.

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett

• ITSF 4096
  Strategic planning and organizational change in international and national educational settings

  The seminar uses theories and methods of social network analysis for examining regional and global policy networks. Besides reading and discussing sociological texts and policy studies literature, we will conduct collaborative empirical analyses of policy networks and policy entrepreneurs. Willingness to conduct empirical research (content and reference analyses) is a condition for participating in this seminar.

  Instructor: Gita Steiner-Khamsi

• ITSF 4098
  Educational Development and Policies in China

  Historical and national development contexts of educational development in China. Key policy issues in education by level and across levels.

• ITSF 4160
  Human rights education in Africa: Politics, policies, and pedagogies

  Students examine the historical conditions that give rise to human rights violations and the efforts to protect rights through policy and education. They explore different approaches to human rights education, apply them to case studies of specific African countries, and develop human rights education curricula.

• ITSF 4190
  Communicative practices: intercultural perspectives

  A topical course exploring language as situated social practice and focusing on communication within and across national boundaries. Domains examined include schooling, work, community, and the public arena. Both spoken and written modes are considered.

  Instructor: JoAnne Kleifgen

• ITSF 4195
  Academic literacies

  This course is designed to help students develop the professional knowledge and skills necessary for effective communication through such genres as research projects, conference presentations, contributions to journals, grant proposals, and evaluation reports.

• ITSF 4603
  Human and social dimensions of peace

  This course focuses on issues of human rights, global ethics, and various aspects of structural and cultural violence. Students are introduced to examples of nonviolent social movements and reflect on the process of peaceful transformation. Another course in human rights may be substituted for the concentration in peace education.

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 4611
  Education for global security

  Explores issues of peace and violence from various perspectives, among them global security culture and militarism. Emphasizes alternative security systems such as disarmament, international and gender justice, ecological and human security. Not offered every year.

• ITSF 4613
  Fundamental concepts in peace education

  This course provides a grounding in the theory, pedagogy, and practice of peace education. It draws from the international literature of the field as it has been developed over the past three decades, and reviews teaching practices relevant to various cultures and learning settings. Not offered every year.

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 4614
  International Organizations, Civil Society and Peace Education

  This course reviews and assesses the work of the world organization and how it facilitates the learning necessary to an integrated global society. The area of emphasis and problem of focus vary from semester to semester. Not offered every year.

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 5001
  Ethnography and participant observation: fieldwork, analysis, reporting

  Permission required. ITSF 5000 or equivalent required. Emphasis on the issues arising out of ethnographic research as they arise during a pilot project from entry into the field to the writing of the results.

  Instructor: Herve Varenne

• ITSF 5002
  Ethnography and participant observation: Comparative and qualitative analysis

  Permission required. ITSF 5000 or equivalent required. Issues of comparative and quantitative analysis of data generated by ethnographic/participant observation inquiries.

• ITSF 5003
  Communication and culture

  Introduction to major theories of human communication and culture as they relate and build on each other.

  Instructor: Herve Varenne

• ITSF 5005
  Interdisciplinary study of the family

  Critical examination of the interaction of internal and external forces and their effects upon individuals and families, drawing upon perspectives of various social science disciplines.

  Instructor: Herve Varenne

• ITSF 5006
  International Education Policy Studies

  This course helps students to understand the rationale and to apply the techniques underlying education sector strategies of low-income governments.

  Instructor: Gita Steiner-Khamsi

• ITSF 5008
  Gender, education, and international development

  In this seminar students will be introduced to education and social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean since the consolidation of national systems of public education during the twentieth century.

  Instructor: Regina Cortina

• ITSF 5023
  The family as educator

  Permission required. Analysis of the family as educator and its interrelations with schools and other educational institutions. Emphasis on inquiry deriving from educational practice and behavioral science theory.

• ITSF 5026
  The family and television

  Permission required. An analysis of the impact of television on the family’s educative functions, with special attention to the process by which the family mediates television.

• ITSF 5090
  Education and Demographic Change

  This course examines the relationship between education and demographic change in international educational development. It focuses on historical and cultural changes in the areas of fertility, migration, mortality, and sustainable development.

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett

• ITSF 5120
  Education in community settings: Museums

  Permission required. A review and an analysis of educational issues and opportunities in various community settings. Special fee: $5.

  Instructor: Hope Leichter

• ITSF 5121
  Education in community settings: Community centers

  Permission required. A review and an analysis of educational issues and opportunities in various community settings. Special fee: $5.

• ITSF 5500
  Education Across the Americas

  In this course students will be introduced to education and social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean since the consolidation of national systems of public education during the twentieth century.

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett

• ITSF 5519
  Research in language and literacy I

  Research in such areas as spatial, temporal, textual, and social deixis in language, with particular attention to culturally variant norms and their implications for educational practice. Materials fee: $20.

• ITSF 5520
  Research in language and literacy II

  Research in the varieties of language used in literate expression, with particular attention to culturally variant norms and their implications for educational practice. Materials fee: $20.

• ITSF 5580
  Postcolonial studies of education

  Prerequisites or corequisites: ITSF 4090 and ITSF 4091. This course explores the impact of missionary, colonial education, and neo-colonial education on school reform both in dependent countries and in former colonial countries.

  Instructor: Gita Steiner-Khamsi

• ITSF 5590
  Education and the development of nations

  Prerequisites: ITSF 4090/6580 or ITSF 4091/6581. This seminar explores the politics of education in international and transcultural contexts. Course topics include educational equity and quality as well as the role of international donors in transplanting particular “best practice” or reform packages from one national context to another.

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 5691
  Colloquium on international education and the United Nations-Goals and content: Major world developments and their implications for education

  The course presents the history as well as the current strategies and initiatives of various international organizations. The general introduction attempts to highlight, from a critical perspective, the logic of donors and the rationale for external assistance. Several trends will be analyzed in greater detail: knowledge banks, demands for good governance, post Cold War studies, south-south transfer, and the War on Terror and U.S. assistance. To enable a comparative perspective, international organizations discussed in this course are not restricted to U.N. organizations but also include development banks, international NGOs, bilateral assistance programs as well as other international organizations. A few representatives of international organizations are invited as guest speakers.

• ITSF 5692
  Colloquium on international education and the United Nations-Theory and teaching techniques: New trends in international education

  Permission required. Enrollment limited. Through class interchange and use of United Nations human and material resources, participants develop innovative teaching materials suitable for their own educational systems.

• ITSF 6125
  Research issues in communicative practices

  A critical review of selected research directions and paradigms for the analysis of spoken and written communication.

• ITSF 6520
  Seminar in families and communities as educators

  Permission required. A research seminar in the family and the community as educational systems.

  Instructor: Hope Leichter

• ITSF 6580
  Advanced seminar in international education I

  This course will focus on the history, methods and theories in the field of international and comparative education.

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 6581
  Advanced seminar in international education II

  This course will focus on issues, institutions, and applications in the practice of international and comparative education.

  Instructor: Monisha Bajaj

• ITSF 6590
  Doctoral seminar in international and transcultural studies

  Permission required. Presentation of research in progress and examination of professional roles.

  Instructor: Lesley Bartlett