Sabrina Wesley-Nero, Ph.D., and director of the Education, Inquiry and Justice Program, oversaw and wrote the curriculum for the inaugural year of the 1619 Freedom School in Waterloo, Iowa. The school’s mission is to help children develop critical literacy skills through liberating instruction centered on Black American history and will serve low-income students with the widest disparity in their reading scores.
Caroline Jaipaul (C’21) is submitting a proposal to start a legal clinic at George Washington Law that will serve DC youth who are currently court-involved through oral and written advocacy and will strive to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in Washington. Jaipaul is completing this as part of her capstone project for her Education, Inquiry and Justice (EDIJ) minor.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made apparent many inequities of our society, not the least of which being education. Sabrina Wesley-Nero, Ph.D., (SFS ‘95), director of the undergraduate program in Education, Inquiry, and Justice (EDIJ) and co-creator and faculty lead of the graduate program Educational Transformation (EDTR), describes the importance of learning from this moment to create a more just society through equal educational opportunities.
Image is by Pete Railand from Justseeds.org
Education, Inquiry and Justice’s focus on the intersection of education and social justice is nourished deeply by Georgetown’s Jesuit tradition, which from its very beginnings has looked to education as a critical means to promote justice and individual well-being. In keeping with this tradition, the minor embodies the notion that all service and action should flow from contemplation and inquiry, and adds to the lifelong development of men and women for others.
There is great student interest in education at Georgetown, as a vocation, as an academic pursuit, and as a means to justice.
Structure of Minor
The minor requires 6 courses in a diverse set of classes. The courses listed below are not offered every semester, but they are representative of the courses that will generally be available.
Applications for the EDIJ minor are open to all sophomores and transfers students typically in February of each year. However, many of the courses are open to all students. Students are encouraged to take at least one EDIJ course prior to applying to the minor.
All students with a minor in EDIJ take the Gateway course (EDIJ 241 CBL Seminar in Urban Education) and the Capstone course (EDIJ 401 Education, Inquiry and Justice Capstone). Students select 1 course from each of the remaining 4 categories.
Seniors who are enrolled in EDIJ 241 for fall 2020 because they were studying abroad during fall 2019 and, therefore, were unable to take the course at that time, will have two options. Completing either of these options in addition to the revised EDIJ 241 in Fall 2020 will satisfy the Gateway Course requirement for EDIJ for the Class of 2022.
Option 1: Complete a 1-credit course in spring 2021 and 20 hours of community-based learning in a local school should health guidance allow in Spring 2021.
Option 2: Complete an additional multiple-component assignment as part of the senior capstone course in spring 2021. The assignment will be designed to help you reflect on all school-based and education-related service and experiential learning you have had during your time at Georgetown.
If you are a senior and took EDIJ 241 in fall 2019, you have satisfied the EDIJ gateway/Praxis I requirement.
Class of 2022
Juniors will complete EDIJ 241 in fall 2020 and a 1-credit course along with 20 hours of community-based learning in a local school in fall 2021 or spring 2022. Juniors can decide which semester they choose to complete this 1-credit course and in-school service. Completing the 1-credit course and 20 hours of community-based learning in a local school in addition to the revised EDIJ 241 will satisfy the Gateway Course requirement for EDIJ for the Class of 2022.
EDIJ Course Categories and Descriptions
The courses listed under each section below represent the current courses available for that section for the upcoming Fall 2020 semester.
These courses typically are introductory in scope and provide a comprehensive overview of foundations of education in the United States.The courses in this category examine universal questions about the purpose, processes, and impacts of education with an eye toward equitable and inequitable experiences and outcomes.
These courses examine education as a means for achieving justice and social transformation. Courses in this category may contextualize social issues that cut across disciplines and explore the role of education through the arts, policy, public health, mental health, psychology, etc.
These courses examine the ways humans learn, grow, and develop. Often human growth and learning are examined through intersections with psychology, the media, technology, language, and digital culture.
Fall 2020 Courses:
GERM 445 – Fundamentals of Teaching in a Foreign Language
ICOS 201 – Intro to Cognitive Science
LING 251 – How Languages are Learned
PSYC 234 – Cognitive Neuroscience
PSCY 262 – Early Childhood Development
PSYC 317 Mind, Brain, and Education PSCY 361 Children & Technology
Praxis courses offer the opportunity to bridge theory and practice. These courses typically integrate work in the community through community-based learning opportunities that help to contextualize and complicate course content.
Fall 2020 Courses:
EDIJ 220 – CBL Education, Equity & Advocacy
ENGL 296 – CBL Reading, Teaching, and Social Reflection
The minor in Education, Inquiry, and Justice is a six-course program. However, some courses that are essential for the minor (or are simply options within it) have prerequisites that must be completed in advance.
Students interested in the minor should consider taking these courses in their first or second year.
PSYC-001 Introduction to Psychology: a prerequisite for most learning and human development courses.
Got questions about EDIJ?
Sign up for an office hours appointment with Professor Wesley-Nero or email EDIJ at edij@georgetown.edu.
