Advance your knowledge, work with faculty members to conduct research, and prepare for a career as an innovative educational leader committed to scholarship and action in urban educational settings. The Urban Ed PhD is ideal for educators who have experience studying, working for, or advocating for change – in roles such as teacher, school leader, journalist, policymaker, or artist.
What You'll Learn
- Historical and contemporary debates around education in urban settings
- Critical theories and lenses for studying teaching, learning, and educational systems shaped by historical and ongoing injustice and oppression
- Qualitative and quantitative methodologies and how to apply them to academic research in education
- How to develop and design a research study, implement a research agenda, evaluate results, and disseminate results findings
Your Academic Experience
New York City as Your Research Setting
NYU was founded in the early 19th century by advocates for a new kind of university, one built in the heart of the city and working on the problems of the city. Today, NYU Steinhardt affords its doctoral students an unparalleled opportunity to shape a scholarly career in this founding spirit. As a student in this doctorate, you'll have access to:
- Renowned urban research institutes such as the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, the Institute of Human Development and Social Change, and the Research Alliance for New York City.
- The NYU Partnership School Program, which has 24 schools (pre-K through grade 12) in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Most are impacted by historical inequities and uneven distribution of resources, and all are committed to working with NYU faculty and students to meet the needs of children, youth, and families
- Connections with research faculty and institutions throughout the New York City metropolitan area through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium, and across the world through NYU's global network
Small Classes and Doctoral Seminars
Courses in this program familiarize you with the terrain of scholarship related to urban education and prepare you to conduct independent research in your area of interest. You'll design research proposals, implement a research agenda, and disseminate findings. You will also attend doctoral seminars that foster deep conversations on relevant texts and issues in the field.
Collaborate with Renowned Faculty on Shared Research Interests
The work of our research faculty explores and illuminates urban educational experience through sociology, psychology, the learning sciences, literacy studies, cultural studies, and policy studies. As a doctoral student in this program, you will study with a wide number of Steinhardt and other NYU faculty. Our faculty are conducting research on pressing contemporary issues in urban education. Faculty interests include:
- Developing and sustaining humanizing teacher development spaces for multiply-marginalized groups
- Critical consciousness in K-12 curriculum development
- Historical pursuits of education that are affirming for historically excluded populations
- Centering radical love in social justice teaching and learning
- Social justice initiatives that move beyond deficit narratives of Black, queer, and trans communities
- Learning and identity development of historically marginalized young people in informal spaces
- The intersections of education and community, or in-school and out-of-school learning
- Current issues involving equity gaps, college access, and youth culture
