Minor in Education Studies

Are you interested in shaping how and what schools teach, understanding the role school plays in society, exploring human learning, or pursuing a career in an education-related field? Consider complementing your major with a minor in education studies.

An education studies minor will prepare you well for a variety of careers in related fields, including education policy, school psychology, higher education, and alternative classroom learning, such as museum education. It will also give you a solid foundation from which to pursue graduate studies in education-related fields.

To minor in education studies, you’ll complete six courses in all: two core courses, including Education and Social Policy, and four electives from an approved list that covers policy, human development, and teaching and learning. If you wish, you may substitute an essay, thesis, or internship for the fourth elective.

Requirements for the Minor in Education Studies

A Brandeis graduate with an education studies minor will be prepared to pursue, after graduation:

graduate study and/or a career in teaching or an education-related field, such as school psychology, higher education, informal education, museum education;
education policy, legislative, or non-profit work; and/or graduate study.

Six courses are required to complete the education studies minor:

two core courses, one of which is ED 155b, and
four program electives.

A grade of C- or better is required in each course taken for credit in the major. Pass/Fail courses are not allowed.

Core Courses

A. ED 155b (Education and Social Policy) is one of the two required core courses. This course is ordinarily offered every year.

B. A second core course to be selected from the following:

AMST 150a - History of Childhood and Youth in America
AMST 180b - Topics in the History of American Education
COML /ENG 140b - Children’s Literature and Constructions of Childhood
ECON 59b - The Economics of Education
ED 158b - Looking with the Learner: Practice and Inquiry
ED 159b - Philosophy of Education
SOC 104a - The Sociology of Education

C. At least four additional program electives, listed below, no more than two of which can be taken in the same department or Interdepartmental program. Students may have only two cross-over courses that meet requirements for both the teacher education (licensure) minor and the Education Studies minor.

Students may substitute successful completion of an essay, thesis, or internship for the fourth elective.

Program Electives

Not all courses are given in any one year. Please consult the Schedule of Classes each semester.

Schooling, Policy and Society

AAAS 156a #BlackLivesMatter: The Struggle for Civil Rights from Reconstruction to the Present
AMST 150a  The History of Childhood and Youth in America
AMST 180b  Topics in the History of American Education
ANTH 61b  Language in American Life
ANTH 109a Children, Parenting, and Education in Cross-Cultural Perspective
ANTH 180b Playing Human: Persons, Objects, Imagination
COML /ENG 140b Children's Literature and Constructions of Childhood
ECON 59b The Economics of Education
ED 159b Philosophy of Education
ED 170a Critical Perspectives in Urban Education
HSSP 192b Sociology of Disability
NEJS 170b Jewish Education in Modern America
NEJS 235b Philosophy of Jewish Education
PHIL 148b Philosophy of the Humanities
SOC 104a Sociology of Education
SOC 108a Youth and Democracy
SOC 113b Sociology of Race and Racism
SOC 138a Sociology of Race, Gender, and Class
SOC 154a Community Structure and Youth Subcultures
WMGS 151a Social Politics of Sexual Education

Human Development, Learning and/or Teaching

ED 100a Exploring Teaching (Elementary & Preschool)
ED 100b Exploring Teaching (Secondary)
ED 107a Teaching and Learning Reading in Elementary and Preschools
ED 158b Looking with the Learner: Practice and Inquiry
ED 163b Creativity and Caring
ED 173b The Psychology of Love: Education for Close Relationships
ED 175a Teaching of English Language Learners: Pre-K to 12
ENG 118b Teaching Shakespeare Up Close and Personal
ENG 108b  Second Language Writing Instruction: Theory and Practice
HBRW 168a Hebrew Language Teaching I
HBRW 236a Teaching and Learning in Jewish Classrooms
HRNS 206f  Informal Jewish Education
LING 110a Phonological Theory
LING 197a Language Acquisition and Development
MATH 3a  Mathematics for Elementary and Middle School Teachers
NEJS 169a  Inside the Religious School Classroom
NEJS 169b From Sunday Schools to Birthright: History of American Jewish Education
NEJS 170a  Studying Sacred Texts
NEJS 170b  Inside Jewish Education
PHYS 22a The Science in Science Teaching and Learning
PSYC 33a Developmental Psychology
PSYC 36b Adolescence and the Transition to Maturity
PSYC 131a Child Development across Cultures
PSYC 169b Disorders of Childhood
THA 138b The Real American Idols: Education through Creativity and Theatrical Pedagogy

Education Program