Culture and teaching PhD
To ensure the success of all of our C&I MA and PhD current students, enhance the student experience for future graduate students, and based upon changing federal education guidelines and available funding, the Department of Curriculum & Instruction is pausing admissions on this program for one calendar year. No students will be admitted to start this program in the Fall 2027-Spring 2028 academic year. Admissions processes will resume in Fall 2027 to admit students for Fall 2028. All updated admissions information will be available by September 2027.
The pause of admissions only applies to the MA and/or PhD program on this page. This does not affect the admissions and enrollment procedures for other programs such as the Curriculum & Instruction's MEd programs or certificates. Those programs will continue to admit and enroll students without pause.
This is a politically committed program dedicated to critical issues related to equity, democracy, and social justice in education. Students engage in a variety of perspectives and methods in their study of education and schooling across broad social, cultural, and political contexts. Graduates are poised to assume faculty positions in higher education as well as leadership roles in local, national, and international organizations.
Quote from Diana Chandara
I could not have asked for professors who are more supportive of me not only as an academic but also as a human being. I am completely grateful for the generosity of their time and energy.
Coursework
PhD curriculum
Our curriculum requires students to consider the power and privilege that shape disparate opportunities in education by race, class, and gender.
Teaching in this program includes thinking about how, as educational leaders and researchers in and outside of the classroom, we might take up radical democratic forms of life with our fellow learners.
Students enrolled in other tracks within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction may also choose to pursue a supporting program in Culture and teaching.
You will complete 15 credits in your track and 12 credits outside your track if pursuing a minor or supporting program.
Your PhD coursework will center on your research interests. The program consists of 48 course credits and 24 doctoral thesis credits for a total of 72 credits. See the detailed requirements and course listings in the graduate catalog, select 'Requirements', scroll down to 'Program Sub-Plan Requirements', scroll down to 'culture and teaching.'
Research opportunities
Students can engage in research that ties into their area of interest. Faculty work closely with each cohort to achieve research and educational goals. Learn more about the student research experience in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Career outlook
Our graduate are trained to be leaders in the field of education, advancing our shared mission of educational equity. Recent graduates have found employment in the following positions:
- Assistant Professor of Education at Macalester
- Rhodes College, Assistant Professor of Education Memphis TN
- SUNY New Platt, Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations
- Program Director of Elementary Education, University of Minnesota
- School District Administrator. St. Paul Public Schools
Request information
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