Coursework and Papers at the University of Florida
Summer 1998 to Present
Passed written and oral doctoral exams. Currently writing dissertation with the expectation of finishing in May 1999.
Spring 1997
Educational Policy Analysis.
Contemporary research on political power in policy decision making and the role of educational leaders in policy development.
Term Research Topic: Literature Review of Policy Analysis Models
Socioeconomic Foundations of Education. Sociological analysis of democratic educational aims, the school as a social system, interest groups, the teaching profession, and economic stratification in America.
Term Research Topic: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Universal Service: Are Low-Income, Urban Schools Prepared to Benefit?
Sociology of Knowledge.
Examination of variations in the social origin of knowledge and knowledge systems. Authors read include Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Daniel Goldhagen, Karl Mannheim, Richard Delgado, and Peter Berger & Thomas Luckmann.
Fall 1996
Seminar in Advanced Topics in Mass Communications Law. Execution of individual research topic on specialized topic under close supervision of instructor. Class focused on the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Urban Politics. Exploration of processes, actors, and institutions in local U.S. politics, along with a brief look at significant issue areas including fiscal crisis, racial conflict, and education.
No Term Research Topic. Weekly writing assignments on class readings focused on different topics related to urban politics: the urban crisis, reformism, urban political process, interest groups, community power, solutions to the subcrisis of power, politics of the delivery of urban services, fiscal crisis and economic development, race and inequality, and education.
Seminar in Public Policy Toward Mass Media. Examination and application of major theoretical perspectives of public policymaking as they apply to the American mass media.
Term Research Topic: Services for Schools -- Points of Contention in the FCC's Rulemaking on Universal Service
Spring 1996
Seminar in Research in Mass Media Law. Investigation of legal research techniques for the mass communications scholar and of literature of a particular mass media law topic (Although the class focused mainly on freedom of information laws, I did my term paper on universal service.)
Term Research Topic: The History and Future of the Universal Service Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Seminar in Mass Media Theory. Specialized aspects of mass communication theory; in-depth investigation of particular concepts and research literature.
Mass Communication Theory. Structure, content, process, effects of communication; contributions of other disciplines, e.g., semantics, linguistics, learning theory; barriers to effective communication; use of research concepts.
Term Research Topic: Access to the Internet and the Knowledge Gap
Advanced Law of Mass Communications. Problems of constitutional law, libel, privacy, and governmental regulation.
Term Research Project: Publisher or Bookstore? Liability for Libel Online