Program Overview

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Cultural Foundations - Ph.D.

Overview

Empower yourself as a thought leader in education with our Ph.D. degree in Cultural Foundations, offering a comprehensive curriculum that prepares you to critically examine, interpret and shape educational policies and practices, driving positive change in the field.

Contact Information

• Tricia Niesz | |

Program Delivery

• Delivery: In person
• Location: Kent Campus

Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries

• Education administrators, postsecondary
  • 3.7% about as fast as the average
  • 190,500 number of jobs
  • $97,500 potential earnings
• Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
  • 3.9% about as fast as the average
  • 283,200 number of jobs
  • $98,490 potential earnings
• Education administrators, all other
  • 8.1% much faster than the average
  • 52,100 number of jobs
  • $87,580 potential earnings
• Education teachers, postsecondary
  • 4.8% about as fast as the average
  • 77,300 number of jobs
  • $65,440 potential earnings

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree from an accredited college or university
• Minimum 3.500 graduate GPA on a 4.000-point scale
• Official transcript(s)
• Résumé or curriculum vitae
• Goal statement
• Two letters of recommendation
• Writing sample
• Interview
• English language proficiency - all international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions to waive) by earning one of the following:
  • Minimum 79 TOEFL iBT score
  • Minimum 6.5 IELTS score
  • Minimum 58 PTE score
  • Minimum 110 DET score

Application Deadlines

• Fall Semester
  • Priority deadline: March 15
• Spring Semester
  • Priority deadline: October 15
• Summer Term
  • Priority deadline: February 1

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

• CULT 80050: HUMANITIES-ORIENTED RESEARCH IN EDUCATION (3)
• CULT 80090: DOCTORAL RESIDENCY SEMINAR (3)
• CULT 89581: PROSEMINAR IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS (3)
• Research, Measurement and Statistics (RMS) doctoral-level electives, as approved by advisor (6)
• Specialized Research as approved by faculty advisor (3)
• Major Focus Electives, choose from the following: (30)
  • CULT 70093: VARIABLE TOPIC WORKSHOP IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS
  • CULT 79510: CLASSICS IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
  • CULT 79530: MULTICULTURAL THEORIES AND SCHOLARSHIP IN EDUCATION
  • CULT 79560: CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
  • CULT 79564: HISTORY OF AMERICAN EDUCATION
  • CULT 79569: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION: FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES
  • CULT 79571: GLOBALIZATION AND EDUCATION
  • CULT 79575: ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION
  • CULT 80030: SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF EDUCATION: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND THEORY
  • CULT 89521: MULTICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE AND POLICY
  • CULT 89522: ETHICS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
  • CULT 89571: COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
  • CULT 89582: SOCIAL THEORIES IN EDUCATION
  • CULT 89591: SEMINAR IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS
  • CULT 89592: ADVANCED PRACTICUM AND INTERNSHIP IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS
  • CULT 89595: SPECIAL TOPICS IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS
  • CULT 89596: INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS
  • CULT 89598: RESEARCH IN CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS
  • CULT 89691: VARIABLE CONTENT SEMINAR: GREAT IDEAS IN EDUCATION
  • Other courses, as approved by faculty advisor

Culminating Requirement

• CULT 80199: DISSERTATION I (30)

Minimum Total Credit Hours

• 78

Graduation Requirements

• Minimum Major GPA: -
• Minimum Overall GPA: 3.000

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the program will be able to:

1. Analyze the social, cultural, economic and political conditions that shape education in domestic and international contexts.
2. Analyze pressing social issues related to education from a foundational point of view.
3. Critically engage a range of theoretical approaches to understanding education.
4. Examine dynamics of social differentiation, power and injustice related to education in and out of school.
5. Theorize education’s contribution to social justice.
6. Develop facility with the range of social science and humanities-oriented research methods and modes of analysis in the field of social foundations of education.
7. Conduct independent research resulting in an original contribution to knowledge in the field of cultural foundations of education.
8. Bring foundational research to bear on the intellectual and organizational aspects of their professions, schools and communities.

Full Description

The Ph.D degree in Cultural Foundations explores education through a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives: philosophy of education, history of education, sociology of education, comparative/international education, anthropology of education, gender studies, multicultural studies and religious studies. Students examine the social contexts of education, with particular emphasis on critical questions concerning structural inequalities and considerations of access to education, distribution of educational opportunity and successful navigation of educational systems; normative considerations about the purposes of education; and interpretive understandings of the nature of educational experience and the transformative potential of education.

Students in the doctoral program work closely with faculty to generate dissertation topics that seek to add something new to existing scholarship in their chosen area of study within the field of education.

Graduates have the knowledge, critical understandings and interpretive skills to analyze and assess educational theories, policies and practices, as well as to lead and promote innovative practices in a range of educational settings and social contexts. Recent graduates have embarked on new careers or been promoted in their existing institutions in governmental agencies, K-12 school systems, institutions of higher education and nongovernmental organizations, both nationally and internationally.