宾夕法尼亚大学

The Master’s degree in Education, Culture, and Society offers training in a broad array of theoretical and methodological approaches to the nuanced study of education as a social, cultural, and historical phenomenon, either in the U.S. or around the world. Following a traditional yet flexible/individualized academic curriculum, this program invites students to examine and study the social and cultural contexts of learning in preparation for doctoral study as well as for careers in schools, administration and educational research. The program is great for the intellectually curious who don’t fit neatly in other boxes, and want to build a new one of their own.

Under the supervision and mentorship of a faculty advisor, master’s students in the Education, Culture, and Society program undertake individualized and interdisciplinary programs of study in the social foundations of education. The program therefore provides students with a nuanced understanding of education as an historical, socio-cultural, political, and moral activity. ECS students explore the role education plays in reproducing and potentially transforming racialized, classed, and gendered relations and structures of inequality – in the U.S. or around the world. Working in small cohorts, students explore and build a unique vision for the program through collaborative dialogue, intensive writing, and critical inquiry.

Students may be eligible to pursue a dual-degree with public policy, non-profit leadership, or social work. Interested students who do not wish to pursue a second degree of study, may also consider the concentration in Community Action and Social Change. Although many ECS students are preparing for a path to doctoral study or academia, many others find the program helpful for establishing careers in schools, administration, educational non-profits, higher education, community advocacy work and/or educational consultancy.

The program follows a traditional yet flexible academic plan, preparing students for doctoral study as well as for careers in schools and educational research. Graduates go on to work in K–12 schools, non-profit curriculum consulting groups, and research and evaluation groups, in addition to doctoral programs. The program requires a minimum of 10 courses of approved graduate work beyond the baccalaureate degree, which most students choose to complete in about a year. Students complete a set of core courses, including one that satisfies a distributional requirement, and write a master’s research paper in order to complete the degree requirements.

Core Requirements

• EDUC 544 School and Society
• EDUC 547 Anthropology and Education
• EDUC668 Master's Research Seminar
• One research course
• A minimum of 6 elective courses (students electing the Area of Concentration in Community Action and Social Change must use three of these toward community-based coursework).
• One distribution course, taken at GSE but outside of ECS, approved by advisor. Qualifies as one elective course.