PH.D. IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE & EQUITY

Union’s Educational Justice and Equity concentration is designed to prepare individuals to address the leading education issues through an integrative, holistic, and critical lens. The Educational Justice and Equity program’s strength is demonstrated by close collaboration with diverse disciplines engaged in today’s complex problems. The goal of the concentration is to empower our learners as agents of social change. The program stands in support of emergent activist scholars by reflecting the voices of the global majority (including, but not limited to Black, Brown, Indigenous, Women, Gender fluid, LGBTQIA+, and neurocognitive diversity). The program demonstrates its commitment to academic excellence by supporting students to achieve social-political relevant research and projects through an individualized, caring, and critical pedagogy.

66 Total credits

$1095 Cost Per Credit Hour

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Skills & Benefits Union Students Gain

Articulate various ways the meaning and purposes of education have been and continue to be socially constructed.
Explain power dynamics within educational institutions and systems, particularly in relation to marginalized people engaging those educational institutions and systems.
Situate your philosophical views on education within extant discourses and articulate various perspectives on ethics and social justice within the educational sphere.

66 credit hour program
Full & part-time options
*Hybrid program
January & July start dates
Complete your degree in as little as 3 years

*100% online classes with a one-week residency in Cincinnati at the start of each term.

Cost of Program

Core Courses

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EJE 710

Education, Society and Culture

3 credits

This course examines the historical and philosophical foundations of education in the U.S. and explores the interplay between educational institutions (Pre-K-12 and higher education) and other political, social, and cultural institutions. Particular attention is given to issues of diversity in contemporary U.S. education.
EJE 720

Curriculum and Social Justice

3 credits

The course will comprise a study of current curriculum innovations and their underlying theoretical bases with a focus on social justice models. Emphasis is given to current research implementation of curricular models in the K-12 and higher education settings and the translation of effective curriculum designs into practice.

Advanced Courses (choose four)

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EJE 805

Special Topics

1-3 credits

Examination of various topics of interest in Educational Studies.
EJE 818

Design Thinking in Education and Leadership

3 credits

This course explores the meaning, intent, and application of design thinking principles and practices in education and leadership forums. We will explore the broad reaches of this methodology that combines creative and analytical approaches to problem-solving and requires collaboration across disciplines for the purpose of creating multiple, innovative solutions to systemic issues.
EJE 820

History of Higher Education and Social Justice

3 credits

This course focuses on the development of higher education in the United States, including a review of sociological, political, and economic influences that have been concentration forces for development and change in higher education and the social justice issues that have been enjoined.
EJE 821

Educating for Democracy and Social Justice: Critical Pedagogy and Pragmatism

3 credits

This course investigates the Critical Pedagogy of Paulo Freire and the Educational Pragmatism of John Dewey with emphasis on narrative constructions of identity, cultural conditioning, and the links among theory, practice, and justice. Particular attention will be paid to the role of power and privilege in both individual and institutional interactions. The concept of social justice will be explored from various perspectives and theoretical frameworks.
EJE 823

Gender and Education

3 credits

This course will focus on historical perspectives and current debates in the area of gender as a marker of difference affecting the education of all students. The intersections of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality will be emphasized throughout while particular issues of gender are explored from a number of theoretical lenses from behaviorist to post-modernist thought and practice.
EJE 824

Technology and Educational Transformation

3 credits

This course’s focus is on exploring existing and emerging technologies and applications and designing them into student-centric learning experiences to facilitate the integration access, and to the use and understanding of new technologies and information resources for continued learning and development. This course’s area of focus includes an examination of how technology is changing education and some of the attendant social justice issues such as access of vulnerable populations to technology.
EJE 826

Race, Racism and Critical Race Theory in Education

3 credits

This course will explore the role that race features in the classroom and beyond, broadening students' understanding of institutional racism in its visible and invisible forms. Historical perspectives will be studied to inform students' ability to grapple with and call into question the assumptive foundations of racism and its effects on marginalized peoples as well as on dominant groups. Strategies for creating classrooms, schools, and communities of equity without erasing difference will be theorized.
EJE 827

Education, Social Justice and Sustainability

3 credits

This course’s focus is on the education and actions required by educators and their institutions to educate, advocate, and provide leadership for integrated solutions that “…meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development to the United Nations, 1987). This course seeks to explore sustainability and social justice, including environmental justice, issues to which educators need to be attuned in the 21st century.
EJE 828

Pedagogical Structures: Traditional and Alternative Models

3 credits

This course takes a historical view of the role of education in society in light of traditional and nontraditional configurations for schooling systems from the American Colonial period through the present. Various approaches to designing school environments and to managing educational entities in private and public settings will be addressed, including for-profit and not-for-profit models, from the micro to the macro level. The social and economic elements and consequences of these models will be investigated in light of changing viewpoints on the purpose of education, from the socialization of citizens to liberatory practice.
EJE 829

Education Law, Policy, and Social Justice

3 credits

This course examines how education-related laws and policies have influenced the lives of marginalized populations in the United States and explores alternatives that may lead to socially just outcomes. The course engages in the study of the social, economic, cultural, and political forces in which Pre-K-12 and higher education programs and institutions have developed, with a focus on contemporary issues of education law and policy, such as affirmative action, desegregation, undocumented immigrant rights, and the school-to-prison pipeline.
EJE 850

Individualized Study I

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study of specific questions and issues of importance within the context of students’ individual experiences and professional lives supervised by the chair of the primary area of concentration. Focuses on students' individual intellectual pursuits and interests.
EJE 860

Individualized Study II

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study dedicated to students' individual research objectives supervised by the dissertation chair. Focuses on the generation of a draft dissertation proposal.
EJE 870

Individualized Study III

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study dedicated to students' individual research objectives supervised by the dissertation chair. Focus on dissertation research and writing. (elective)
EJE 880

Individualized Study IV

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study dedicated to students' individual research objectives supervised by the dissertation chair. Focus on dissertation research and writing. (elective)
EJE 875

Internship

3 credits

The Educational Studies internship provides students the opportunity to integrate theory and practice while under the supervision of a qualified individual who possesses documented expertise in education. The internship is not meant to be “business as usual.” Rather, the experience is intended to challenge students in new ways, requiring them to step outside of their comfort zones. Given the Educational Studies focus, a central purpose of the internship is for students to explore the complexities involved in furthering ideals of social justice within an educational or related setting.
EJE 891

Capstone Course

3 credits

The Capstone Course provides students the opportunity to expand upon work toward the dissertation research begun in EJE 850 with emphasis on developing each student's scholarly skills. This course includes the proficiency review in both Foundational Themes and Content in the Concentration.

Electives

You have the option of exploring courses outside the ECL concentration or using electives for a certificate (e.g. Executive Leadership) or for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Studies specialization.

Careers of our Educational Justice & Equity Graduates

College Instructor

Higher Education Researcher

Educational Administration

Educational Advocacy & Policy

EMBEDDED CERTIFICATES - No extra time or cost to complete

Graduate certificates provide you with a distinguished addition to your Ph.D. focus. All students in the Ph.D. Program in Interdisciplinary Studies have the option to pursue one of these graduate certificates embedded in the program:

Creative Writing
Design Thinking
Educational Leadership
Ethics and Philosophy

Executive Leadership
Museum Studies
Women’s & Gender Studies

Proficiency Reviews

Union’s version of comprehensive or qualifying examinations are two Proficiency Reviews, one in research and the other in the concentration and foundational themes of ethics and social justice, engaging difference, and creativity. Both are embedded in the required dissertation research courses.

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Dissertation Information and Examples

The program supports a variety of formats for doctoral dissertations, including theoretical, historical, and interpretive research, social action research projects, empirical research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods, and creative dissertations. Below are some examples from our Education Justice & Equity graduates:

Hopson, J. (2021). Texas A&M university system website analysis: Disability and diversity
Madry, T. S. (2020). Mentoring: A Leadership Tool for Black Greek Fraternities.
Maples, G.L. (2019). Surviving the Invisible Wounds of War: As Told by the Unseen Heroes.
Bolton, D. (2018). Motivating African American Male Readers Through Mentorship.
Alvarez, M. (2018). A parenting program for homeless fathers in transition: Its influence on how they see their role as parents.

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PH.D. IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE & EQUITY

Skills & Benefits Union Students Gain

Electives

Careers of our Educational Justice & Equity Graduates

College Instructor

Higher Education Researcher

Educational Administration

Educational Advocacy & Policy

EMBEDDED CERTIFICATES - No extra time or cost to complete

Proficiency Reviews

Meet Our Faculty

Dissertation Information and Examples

Funding Your Future

About Union

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