About this OER

This Open Educational Resource (OER) was initially co-created by a Fall 2021 class at the University of Alberta: Intellectual Influences in Contemporary Curriculum Study (EDSE 501 X01 2021) and is edited by Cathryn van Kessel.

As an interdisciplinary field, education draws from a number of sources. The seminar upon which this OER is based was an opportunity for graduate students to engage with readings from scholars in a variety of disciplines in tandem with scholarship in curriculum that draws from those scholars.

Together, we considered driving questions including, but not limited to:

• What are some of the major ideas of these interdisciplinary scholars that have impacted curriculum studies?
• How have these interdisciplinary scholars shaped the discourse of curriculum studies?
• How have curriculum scholars amplified, extended, and/or applied ideas from other areas of inquiry?

The specific objectives of this OER are to help:

• provide a starting point for a working understanding of a variety of interdisciplinary scholars who have a significant impact on contemporary curriculum studies; and
• explore how those scholars and their thinking relate to specific areas of curriculum studies.

The authors contributing to this OER have offered their thoughtful articulation of key aspects of the ‘intellectual influencer’ and their ideas as well as a synthesis of a few readings from the ‘influencer’ and curriculum scholars influenced by them.

As of December 2021, this OER includes: Karen Barad, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Jacques Derrida, Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Walter Mignolo, and Sylvia Wynter.

Many thanks to Kateryna Barnes for the cover image.