Summer Courses 2025
Are you interested in taking a course this summer? Most summer courses are open to both UMass Amherst students and people who are not currently pursuing a degree. There are Undergraduate (UG) and Graduate courses offered for 6 week or 12 week sessions. Below are the courses offered through the College of Education this summer.
Undergraduate Classes
Summer Session 1 (Monday, May 19 - Tuesday, July 1)
EDUC 210 - Social Diversity in Education - UG
Focus on issues of social identity, social and cultural diversity, and societal manifestations of oppression. Draws on interdisciplinary perspectives of social identity development, social learning theory, and sociological analyses of power and privilege within broad social contexts. (Requirements met: Gen.Ed. I, DU)*
EDUC 225 - Controversial Issues in Education - UG
This course investigates major contemporary educational issues that affect the lives of teachers and students in today's classrooms. It explores the complex web of issues that children, families, and educators face in our diverse society. (Requirements met: Gen Ed SB)*
EDUC 306 - Educational Psychology - UG
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the major historical and contemporary theories of human development and learning and their educational implications.
This class develops the skills needed to begin to understand the complex components of human relationships and career decisions, with a focus on critical thinking and intentional decision making. (Requirements met: Gen. Ed. SB)*
EDUC 325 - Introduction to Special Education - UG
This course is a study of the origin, diagnosis, and treatment of special needs children with an emphasis on learning, goal planning, and understanding their intellectual, social, physical and sensory needs.
EDUC 377 - Introduction to Multicultural Education - UG
Introduction to the sociohistorical, philosophical, and pedagogical foundations of cultural pluralism and multicultural education. Topics include experiences of racial minorities, white ethnic groups and women; intergroup relations in American society, sociocultural influences and biases in schools; and philosophies of cultural pluralism.
EDUC 378 - Survey of Children’s Literature - UG
Survey of traditional and recent examples of children's literature and review of the varieties of books available.
EDUC 393M - Introduction to Early Childhood Education - UG
This course helps prospective early childhood teachers explore what it means to teach, and examines their assumptions about the teaching-learning process, and helps them formulate their own beliefs about educational practice based on how young children think and learn.
EDUC 428- Language and Literacy Development in the Early Childhood Curriculum - UG
Introduction to reading instruction. Critical overview of current approaches, methods, materials. Introduction to theories about the reading process and children's acquisition of written language.
HUMDEV 270- Child Development - UG
Examines current concepts, themes, and theories in child development. Traces natural course of development from beginning of human life through adolescence. (Requirements met: Gen.Ed. SB)*
Summer Session 2 Courses (Monday, July 7 - Friday, August 15, 2025)
EDUC 115 - Embracing Diversity - UG
This course is about cultural diversity in the University community and how we can better understand ourselves and others through an appreciation of college education as a cultural experience, with its own unique set of rules, biases, and expectations. (Requirements met: Gen. Ed. I, DU)*
EDUC 229 - International Education - UG
This course is designed to introduce students to the role of culture in education. After exploring the theoretical basis of culture, and its relationship to education, students will be exposed to a range of cultural perspectives from Africa, Asia and Latin America. (Requirements met: Gen.Ed. SB, DG)*
EDUC 301 - Young Children Families & Schools - UG
This course provides an overview of research and practices related to working with families in the educational contexts of young children. Methods for developing positive partnerships between educational institutions and families are explored.
EDUC 351 - Foundations of Education - UG
A study of selected problems and issues in modern education through the disciplines of educational sociology, educational history, educational philosophy, comparative education, or social psychology.
Graduate Classes
12-week Summer Courses (Monday, May 19* - Friday, August 15, 2025)
EDUC 641 - Assessment, Evaluation, and Research in Higher Education - Graduate
The purpose of this course is two-fold: (1) to provide a general understanding of selected past and current research regarding undergraduate students, and (2) to provide knowledge of and practical experience in the assessment of various aspects of undergraduate student life. One major goal of the course is for students to learn to analyze survey data and write a research paper based on survey data. The following topics will be studied: research, assessment, and evaluation; survey design; data collection and analysis; literature reviews; report writing; and writing for publication.
EDUC 643 - Foundations of Higher Education - Graduate
This is the first of a two semester course required of all entering students in the Master's program in higher education. It provides an overview of higher education in America and investigates the ways higher education is constructed, defined, managed, studied, and thought about.
EDUC 680 - How Children in Developing Countries Learn to Read - Graduate
This course introduces participants to the basic principles of children's reading acquisition in low-resource classrooms in developing countries, no prerequisites.
EDUC 881 - Comparative Education - Graduate
Processes and problems of educational development in selected areas throughout the world. Interrelationship between education and culture, in a multicultural context. While historical antecedents are recognized, major emphasis on cultural forces responsible for contemporary educational practices.
Summer Session 1 Courses (Monday, May 19 - Tuesday, July 1)
EDUC 562 - Abnormal Child & Adolescent Psychology - Graduate
This course is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge in the area of abnormal child and adolescent psychology. Using a developmental approach to understanding psychopathology, the course seeks to understand the multiple transactional influences and the individual in context (social, cultural, life experiences) that influence child and adolescent development. Beginning with an overview of the field and foundational concepts, as well as the various factors that affect psychological development; the course will then examine the classification, assessment, and intervention of various diagnostic disorders (anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, trauma and stressor related disorders, mood disorders, conduct disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, communication and learning disorders, intellectual disabilities, and autism).
EDUC 615CT - Creativity, Technology and Learning - Graduate
This course is designed to introduce students to ways of using learning technology to enable creativity in the classroom or any learning environment. It takes both a theoretical and a practical approach to creativity. Therefore, students will read and study theories and empirical studies of creativity, create curriculum for learning environments, as well as work to expand their own creativity.
EDUC 678A - Teaching & Facilitation in Social Justice Education - Graduate
This course develops your knowledge and skills in group facilitation in social justice education. Students will be introduced to models for facilitating conversations about social justice change, at both the personal and group level. We focus on self-awareness, developing critical reflective lenses related to your current work and contexts, and the development and delivery of action strategies intended to strengthen individual and collective social justice efforts.
EDUC 748 - Current Issues in Community Colleges - Graduate
Study of the variant forms of two-year degree granting institutions, with attention to current philosophical and social issues.
Summer Session 2 Courses (Monday, July 7 - Friday, August 15, 2025)
EDUC 621 - Managing Higher Education - Graduate
Course examines management issues in higher education. It explores the general field of organization and management theory; situates management theory within higher education institutions; and examines the distinct, overlapping, and sometimes conflicting roles and responsibilities of particular administrative positions within a college or university. Students also undertake the independent exploration of the management literature pertinent to their own area of work within higher education.
*Preview Week begins one week prior to the class start
Registration
Please register as soon as possible. Course registration information can be found on the How to Enroll in University+ classes website. If you are registering as a non-degree student for the first time, there is a $10 fee to fill out the non-degree enrollment application form in addition to the online tuition and fees as noted on each course webpage.