This course offers an in-depth exploration of critical theory as it relates to education, schooling, and broader social structures. Drawing from foundational and contemporary thinkers in the critical tradition--including Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Pierre Bourdieu, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and others--students will examine how power, ideology, race, class, gender and other axes of identity intersect in educational contexts. Students will critically engage with key concepts such as hegemony, social reproduction, cultural capital, intersectionality, critical pedagogy, and decolonial thought. The course emphasizes both theoretical rigor and practical application, enabling students to analyze educational policies, curricula, institutional structures, and pedagogical practices through a critical lens. In extension, the course supports the development of critical consiousness and research that challenges dominant narratives and works toward equity and social justice in education. [ 3 credits ]