SSE PH.D. Home Page

The Social Studies Education Ph. D. program is a "cohort program." This means that the social studies education coursework (the "SSE sequence") of the program (see List of Program Courses) is offered to all students in the cohort at one time and in a set sequence.

Students interested in applying should contact Dr. Berson berson@coedu.usf.edu. to learn more about the program and what courses can be taken prior to the SSE sequence, cohort completion requirements, etc.

You can pursue this program while continuing to teach at school or college, i.e. you can keep your current job.
All students are required to teach courses as part of their training. During a semester in which you would teach, you would be hired as a TA at approximately $2,800 and receive a tuition stipend for 9 credits. Our students have traditionally served as TAs on a minimum of 2 occasions, some have been able to cover almost 75% of the cost of the doctoral program. Teaching opportunities vary based on undergraduate enrollment, resources, etc.
See Financial Aid for fellowships, scholarships, loans etc.

University reputation, location, cost, faculty, program, and fellow students are usually identified as the primary considerations when selecting a doctoral program.

For more details about USF, the College of Education, and Social Studies Education, please read the remainder of this page and

Tampa/St. Petersburg has a population of over 2 million located on a bay with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. While nationally Florida has an image as a "retirement" state, Tampa is very cosmopolitan with a population of age groups that looks more like Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, or Saint Louis. Florida is also one of the fastest growing states due to both relocation from within the United States and immigration from other nations.

Combined with the demographics of the baby-boom population (retirements) there is a significant teacher shortage in Florida for middle/high school social sciences teachers and department chairs. We can assist you in making contacts to apply for positions in local schools as a way of supporting yourself during your doctoral program. The same demographics is creating projections for a significant demand for college professors of social sciences education and district level curriculum coordinators with social sciences education backgrounds, both of which typically require a Ph. D.

USF has approximately 40,000 students, is less than 50 years old (founded in 1956), and the Tampa Campus is a modern, suburban setting. It is in the top 60 universities for research funding and the 2nd largest university in the southeast. Florida's universities have among the lowest tuition rates in the nation and the State of Florida has no state income tax.

The College of Education (COE) buildings are new, technology-rich facilities and the USF College of Education is America's largest urban college of education.

One of the most important considerations in selecting a doctoral program is the faculty. The faculty should be active scholars, presenters, leaders in professional societies, and authors. They should also see their role as mentoring younger colleagues into the academic community.

Admissions & Program

The goals of the program are to prepare social sciences education professionals who:

Our graduates are prepared to serve as professors in colleges and universities as well as school district administrators and curriculum specialists.

Students are exposed to five social science education professors with divergent interests, perspectives, and approaches to the topics and scholarship of social science education as opposed to being limited to just one or two professors as is found in many programs
Each social science education faculty member has been recognized nationally and/or internationally in their respective areas of expertise as documented by over:
- 75 published books,
- 40 edited journals,
- over 1000 regional or national/international presentations and invited papers,
- at least 250 journal articles/chapters, and
- in excess of $12 million in grants to support their efforts. Brief biographies are available on the program website.
The courses were designed with particular attention to research, scholarship, technology, curriculum history and trends, and philosophical foundations and theory in social science education, and they offer practical experiences to prepare individuals for social studies education leadership positions.

Our program is unique in that all doctoral students enter as a group - i.e., a "cohort." In the first five semesters, the 10 students admitted to the cohort take all the social science education courses together, as a group. The cohort provides a support system and opportunities for collegiality among the students.

This cohort approach and planned social sciences education course sequence has a number of advantages:

In the cohort classes, students develop a highly focused expertise in social sciences education. All of the five 4-credit courses were designed with particular attention to research and scholarship that comprehensively covers the breadth of social studies education at the doctoral level.
The program provides a high level of intellectual interaction among students and professors.
The cohort provides a support system and opportunities for collegiality.
In non-cohort classes, students are exposed to ideas and interactions with students and faculty from other programs.

These five 4-credit hour courses are usually offered on Mondays or Tuesdays at 5 pm or Saturday at 9 am. In addition, in the first five academic year semesters (fall and spring) students will also take four 2-credit practicum courses that are through independent, self-paced projects and therefore, the course do not meet at a scheduled time or day. These 2-credit courses include professional activities such as lecturing, observations, publishing, presentations at regional and national conferences, etc. under the direction of Professor Berson. With only one required class meeting per week (the four credit course) during the first five semesters, students have the flexibility to be part-time or by taking additional courses, full-time students.

You can decide how quickly you want to move through the program based on your finances (see Financial Aid), your need to meet other obligations like family and work, and your ability to manage the the significant reading, research and writing demands of the program. Most students, after the first semester, take one course in addition to their social science education courses each semester for a total of 9 credit hours. You can fulfill the traditional residency requirement without leaving a full-time position by enrolling in nine hours for two consecutive semesters (i.e., fall & spring, spring & summer, summer & fall).

The other program courses are in Research Methods, the "Core" (a set of courses that other education doctoral students take at USF), and the "Cognate" (a minor in such fields as ed leadership, foreign language education, reading, etc. or in the humanities or social sciences). These courses can be taken before, during or after the social science education course sequence depending on your other obligations, such as work and family, and personal plans for how quickly you want to progress through the course requirements.

The “course stage” is followed with enrollment in self-paced independent course work on a thesis guided by the faculty.

They

enjoy crafting arguments,
have self-initiative,
cherish the rigor of intellectually engaging their peers and professors,
excellent time managers, and
beam when they hear a novel idea or concept that is foreign to them.

The Social Studies Faculty invite you to join in a collaborative relationship in which we are all colleagues and the faculty also serve as mentors. To facilitate the development of a community of scholars, the students and faculty of the social studies education program ascribe to these norms:

We apply the "reasonable person" test to all that we do. [What would a reasonable person do under these circumstances?]
We keep colleagues informed if what we do affects them or their work.
We apply the “do unto others as you would have them do unto me” principle. [What would a considerate person do under these circumstances?]
We support strong relationships with a commitment of our time and energy.
We engage in continuous consultation with colleagues to sustain trust and positive interdependence.
We are civil, considerate, and compassionate in working with our colleagues.
We have high expectations for ourselves and for our fellow colleagues.
We are tough on ideas and issues, but easy on people.
We always look for win/win solutions.
We often "go slow to go fast."
We avoid the use of a position of power in favor of reasonable discourse and collaborative problem-solving.
We strive to produce only high quality work products.

We, the social sciences education faculty at USF, have only the fondest memories of our doctoral programs and professors and would love to have you as a colleague.

Disclaimer
All information provided on this web page, and on its other web pages and internet sites, is made available to provide immediate access for the convenience of interested persons. While the Social Sciences Education program believes the information to be reliable, human or mechanical error remains a possibility, as does delay in the posting or updating of information. Therefore, the Social Sciences Education program makes no guarantee as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, currency, or correct sequencing of the information. Neither the Social Sciences Education program, nor any of the sources of the information, shall be responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the use or results obtained from the use of this information.