CYES200

Description

Content & topics vary by semester and instructor. Special Topics for fall 2026: Intersectionality, Identity, and Education This course examines how identities are shaped through the intersection of race, gender, class, age, and other social locations-and how these intersections structure lived experience within educational contexts. Grounded in Black feminist thought and critical social theory, the course centers intersectionality as both an analytic framework and a lived reality. Using Black girlhood as a central case study, students will explore how systems of power-including racism, patriarchy, capitalism, and age-based hierarchies-converge to shape the experiences, opportunities, and constraints faced by young people in schools and communities. At the same time, the course invites students to examine their own identities as socially situated, asking how who they are-and where they stand-shapes what they see, how they interpret the world, and what forms of action are available to them. Throughout the course, students will engage foundational and contemporary texts in intersectionality, critical race theory, and youth studies. Emphasis will be placed on connecting theory to lived experience and educational practice, with attention to questions such as: How do intersecting systems of power operate in schools? How are identities produced, regulated, and resisted? And what does it mean to act with a commitment to equity, justice, and transformation from within one's own social position? CYES 200 fulfills the CYES "Theories of Inequality" requirement or can be taken as an elective for the CYES major, minor, or Education minor. May be repeatable for credit.