The Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies provides students with an understanding of urban educational issues, with a focus on the historical, political, economic and socio-cultural contexts of communities, schools and society. Join our program and explore the causes of inequality in urban communities and schools and learn about strategies for addressing urban challenges.

Ed Policy Department Statement Against Police Brutality and Racial Oppression

The Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies unequivocally supports the protests against police brutality, killing, and injustice that have taken to the streets around the nation. We know that racial injustice is deeply rooted in institutions like police departments and schools. American society was “stamped from the beginning,” as Ibram X. Kendi writes, with racism. This current uprising is the most recent example of a long history of legitimate efforts to stand up for real equality and to fight for change. Not just the police system, but all of our systems need to be transformed and racism rooted out.

Our Department was founded in response to debates and conflict around racial and economic inequality during the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1970s. We have been addressing issues of racial justice since our Department was formed. Creating a safe space for Black, Latinx, and other underrepresented racial groups within a large University was a fundamental justification for the creation of our Department.

At this time of conflict and hope for change, as a faculty we recommit to extending our focus on anti-oppressive, anti-racist educational practice, seeking to contribute to change in our small way through our teaching, writing, and community work. We follow behind the courageous activists and marchers, always learning from our students as we go. We seek to provide spaces in our classes that might support the practices creatively developed in the streets today and in the future.

Educational Policy Graduates and Alumni Speak at Graduation About Their Experiences in the Program

Our Programs

Community Engagement and Education, BS

Optional Submajors

Cultural Foundations of Community Engagement and Education, MS

Optional Focus Areas

  • Alternative Education
  • Community Empowerment and Change
  • Community Partnerships and Engagement
  • Educational Policy
  • Race, Class, and Gender in Education
  • Urban Education
  • Youth Work

Urban Education, PhD

Our department offers specializations in Multicultural Studies and Social Foundations of Education as part of the Urban Education Doctoral Program.

Specializations

CEED-CDS Accelerated Master’s Degree Program

Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification

Undergraduate Certificates

Advising

Have questions about a program or looking for academic or career advice? Our advisors are here to help. Community education majors are assigned to faculty advisors in Educational Policy and Community Studies. The department also offers drop-in advising for new students, transfer students, current students and students seeking information about the program. For graduate programs, we assign individual faculty advisors at admission.

Contact Us

For more information or questions about the program

(414) 229- 4721
soeinfo@uwm.edu

Mailing Address

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Department of Educational Policy & Community Studies
School of Education
P.O. Box 413
Milwaukee, WI 53201