2026-2027 Academic Year

Fall 2026

EDST 391 Contested Campus
The course will focus on two current issues challenging higher education: access and free speech. Regarding the first, we will examine who attends college and why, socio-economic diversity in higher education, and the debate over affirmative action including successor approaches following the Supreme Court decision on the issue. For the second, we will investigate policies around free speech and its limits (if any) on campus, speech codes, cancel culture, the status of protest on campus, and whether colleges have an obligation to be “neutral.” The course will draw materials relating to a range of institutions, including Dickinson. Students will have an opportunity to write final research essays on a campus issue of their own choosing.

Spring 2027

EDST 120 Contemp Iss in Amer Education
An examination of current policies, practices, and problems in the landscape of American education with particular attention to the perspectives of various stakeholders (e.g. teachers, students, families, community leaders, employers, and elected officials). U.S. diversity with respect to race, class, gender, language, and exceptionality is considered within a variety of educational contexts. The course also examines the ways in which educational issues and reform efforts intersect with social, economic, political, and cultural forces.

EDST 391 Leadership & Higher Ed Chlg
One expert has called academic leadership "nearer to true leadership" than other types. This course explores that claim as a vehicle for understanding how colleges work. We will examine proposed models of higher ed organization: among them bureaucratic, collegial, feminist, anarchic, and spiritual. Then gauge what they do or don't illuminate about academic leadership using case studies and interviews on contemporary higher ed challenges. Who leads colleges and universities? How? What does this mean for the future?