Gaztambide-Fernandez, Ruben A., Harding, Heather A., and Sorde-Marti, Tere . 'Cultural Studies and Education: Perspectives on Theory, Methodology, and Practice'

Adolescence, Spring, 2005

GAZTAMBIDE-FERNANDEZ, Ruben A., HARDING, Heather A., & SORDE-MARTI, Tere (Eds.). Cultural Studies and Education: Perspectives on Theory, Methodology, and Practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review, 2004. 296pp. $29.95 (p).

An extensive field that in the last few decades has transformed many academic disciplines, cultural studies has yet to be fully considered by educators and education scholars. Cultural Studies and Education redresses this shortcoming, bringing cultural studies and its implications for education to the fore. The book aims to serve three main purposes. First, it is an introduction for educators and education researchers to some of the most important theoretical debates and analytic frameworks that have shaped the field of cultural studies. Second, it offers an introduction to and examples of three important areas of inquiry in which education and cultural studies overlap: gender and queer studies; postcolonial and ethnic studies; and popular culture and youth studies. Third, it illustrates how education scholars have dealt with the conceptual challenges of cultural studies and how education offers unique perspectives and contributions to the broader debates in the field. A wide-ranging volume with articles by Cameron McCarthy, Michelle Fine, Henry Giroux, and others, Cultural Studies and Education is a timely introduction to cultural studies and the ways in which it can enrich both education scholarship and practice.