Welcome to The Social Foundations of Education!

The faculty and graduate students of Social Foundations of Education invite you to pursue an advanced course of study with us at The University of Iowa.

Social Foundations of Education is an interdisciplinary program designed to enable students to better understand the influence of social, historical, and philosophical forces on the formal educational enterprise. The American Educational Studies Association defines the Social Foundations of Education as a "broadly-conceived field of study that derives its character and fundamental theories from a number of academic disciplines, combinations of disciplines, and area studies: history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, religion, political science, economics, psychology, comparative and international education, educational studies, and educational policy studies."

Major areas of specialization in our program are Comparative/International Education, History of Education, Philosophy of Education, Policy Studies, and Sociology of Education. The program is designed to provide students with both a broad overview of the field and the opportunity to pursue in-depth coursework in their chosen area of specialization.

While the faculty in this program have different academic interests, they are united by their emphasis on providing graduate students with the teaching and research experiences that will serve them well in their future roles as academics, educational researchers, and policy analysts.

For more information regarding our courses of study, admission requirements, or current faculty and graduate students, please navigate through our website. If you have any questions about our program, please contact us.

Scott McNabb, Program Coordinator