HIST 488 - Education and American Democracy

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-3
The pursuit of democracy within and through education in the United States. Focus on early public and religious experiments, immigration and parochial schools, Reconstruction, Progressive reform, professionalization of teaching, desegregation, California Master Plan, and equality and diversity.

Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-3 - Upper Division Arts or Humanities
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas 1A, 1B, 1C and GE-2 with grade C- (CR) or better (GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 for students on the 2024-25 or earlier catalogs).
Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area 3 requirements (lower division Area C requirements for students on the 2024-25 or earlier catalogs).
Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid, or Online-Asynchronous, or Online-Synchronous.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Course Typically Offered: Fall & Spring

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Investigate the history of public education in the United States;
Draw connections between democratic movements and the evolution of schools and theories and practices of education, formal and informal;
Examine key contests over K-12 schools and education, including around religion, desegregation, speech, teacher professionalization, and privatization;
Reflect upon ongoing efforts by diverse groups to realize equity and social justice in education in the United States.

GE-UD-3. Upper-division Arts or Humanities Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply principles, methodologies, values systems, and thought processes employed in the arts and humanities.
Analyze cultural production as an expression of, or reflection upon, what it means to be human.
Demonstrate how the perspectives of the arts or humanities are used by informed, engaged, and reflective citizens to benefit local and global communities.