Harvard University (CorruptED)
Incidents
The Harvard Graduate School of Education catalog features course descriptions which include topics such as “fascism and white supremacy,” critical race theory, white supremacy, whiteness, queer theory, decolonial theory, white privilege, and oppression. Course texts include Franz Fanon’s The wretched of the earth, Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack.
Below are a few examples of courses offered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
EDUCATION T002: Critical Race Theory in Education
The course titled “Critical Race Theory in Education” states that it “focuses on the epistemological, methodological, and pedagogical uses of critical race theory (CRT) in the examination and deconstruction of race-based educational disparities and inequalities in K-12 and postsecondary education.”
The goals for the course will be to “examine the utility of CRT as a theoretical framework in (1) interrogating the factors that cause racial educational disparities; (2) exploring why inequalities exist and persist; and (3) determining sustainable remedies to these disparities and inequalities. The course will begin by looking at CRT’s roots in critical legal studies.”
Additionally, “students will confront the intra and interpersonal challenges and strengths of multiple socially constructed race groups by examining the branches of CRT that focus on people of color, including Latinos, Asians, and Indigenous peoples, and the use of CRT to examine Whiteness.”
Education T004: Ethnic Studies and Education
The course titled Ethnic Studies and Education includes topics such as critical pedagogy, critical race theory, white privilege, and white supremacy. Course texts include Franz Fanon’s The wretched of the earth, Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack.
The course description states it will introduce students to the “origins, epistemologies, frameworks, key concepts, and central questions in the field of Ethnic Studies, while applying these concepts and questions to our own educational experiences, and the various realms of education in which we currently work.”
Education A310S: Schools in Action: Observing, Reflecting, and Acting in a Time of Crisis
The course “Schools in Action: Observing, Reflecting, and Acting in a Time of Crisis” states that it “seeks to understand the complexities and intricacies of this relationship through observation, reflection and writing.”
The course also states that it “is an opportunity for our learning community to develop their understanding, experience, and voice as democratic educators.” The course description also states that “education is being used to support a range of social projects from democratic equality and social efficiency to social justice and liberation to fascism and white supremacy” and that students will “work to create opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and action to critically explore how the relationship between education and democracy contributes to these projects.”
Education H210P: Queering Education
The course titled “Queering Education” will explore “the role of gender and sexuality in shaping young people’s schooling experiences, opportunities, and outcomes, and the role of schooling experiences in shaping young people’s notions of gender and sexuality.” The course description also states that it is “about the ‘hidden curriculum’ of heteronormativity and cisnormativity, or the subtle practices in schools that privilege heterosexual, gendered identities and ways of being.”
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