The Critical Studies in Education PhD Concentration will be accepting two to three new students for the 2025-26 academic year who have specific research interests in issues related to culture, and literacy and language development with a specific focus on bilingual learners in K-12 schools. We are particularly interested in prospective candidates with bilingual skills in English and Spanish with experience teaching in elementary and/or secondary classrooms. Before applying, please contact Dr. Ester de Jong for more information about the program and to learn about competitive graduate student research assistantships available.

What Students Learn

Students of this program see education research and teaching through a transdisciplinary and critical lens. The program itself is framed around race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, language, and culture. Curriculum centers on social justice and promotes ideas of educational equity, transformative education, and educational activism in nontraditional ways.
 
Students in this concentration will explore how society and schooling, including its structures, policies, and practices are dialectical sites of oppression and liberation. Students delve into the idea of educators as intellectual activists, facilitating liberation. The concentration promotes an activist approach. This includes the opportunity to engage in a monthly faculty and student meeting. Through this meeting, students and faculty collaborate on research, publications, conference presentations, and theory building.
 
The faculty in this concentration area approach education in critical ways. This ensures the future of a more transformational, liberating, and humanizing educational system and society.

Choose CU Denver's School of Education & Human Development

Students trust CU Denver to provide an education that will prepare them for excellence in their career as a faculty member or researcher. The program prepares leaders who value educational excellence and social justice. Additionally, the School of Education and Human Development is counted among U.S. News & World Report's “Best Graduate Schools,” making CU Denver one of the top education schools in the country.

Courses

The 75-credit program begins each fall.
 
The curriculum includes a combination of on-campus, hybrid, remote, and online courses each semester.
 
Every student must be available to attend on-campus courses each semester.