Joseph J. Ferrare

Research Interests:
sociology of education
education policy
social networks
intergenerational mobility
organizational theory
Education

Ph.D. (2011) University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research & Teaching

I joined the faculty at UK in 2014 from the Department of Sociology and Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University. Prior to my doctoral studies at UW-Madison I spent three years as a research analyst in Seattle, WA working in the areas of education, labor, and environmental policy.

My work is focused on understanding (1.) the forms and consequences of social inequality that emerge through students’ educational trajectories, and (2.) examining the extent to which education policy and reform movements transform or reproduce inequities in these trajectories. In my current work I am exploring these areas of inquiry through three active projects. The first is an investigation of the changing economic and cultural dynamics in intergenerational patterns of education attainment over the past century. In the second project I am analyzing the intersecting social, cultural, and curricular contexts that differentially shape undergraduate attainment patterns. Finally, I am using social network analysis to examine the impact that policy networks are having on contemporary education policy and reform movements.

A subtext running throughout my work is a strong interest in building upon the fields of relational sociology and organizational theory to develop theoretical and methodological tools that integrate structural and phenomenological analysis. Toward this end my work frequently draws upon interdisciplinary perspectives in field theory and relational methodologies such as social network analysis and related techniques.

My teaching commitments include the following graduate courses: Sociology of Education (EPE/SOC 661), Social Policy Issues & Education (EPE 602), Survey Research Methods (EPE 619), Social Network Analysis and Education (EPE 711), and a Seminar in Educational Policy Studies (EPE 773). I also teach an undergraduate UK Core course, Education in American Culture (EPE 301).

See my personal website for more information about publications, courses, and projects.

Selected Publications:

Ferrare, Joseph J. and Katherine Reynolds. In Press. "Has the Elite Foundation Agenda Spread Beyond the Gates? An Organizational Network Analysis of Non-Major Philanthropic Giving in K12 Education." American Journal of Education.

Kerry Kretchmar, Beth Sondel, and Joseph J. Ferrare. 2016. “The Power of the Network: Teach For America and the Deregulation of Teacher Education.” Educational Policy OnlineFirst:1-31.

Ferrare, Joseph J. and Michael W. Apple. 2015. "Field Theory and Educational Practice: Bourdieu and the Pedagogic Qualities of Local Field Positions in Educational Contexts." Cambridge Journal of Education 45(1):43-59.

Collin, Ross and Joseph J. Ferrare. 2015. "Rescaling Education: Reconstructions of Scale in President Reagan's 1983 State of the Union Address." Journal of Education Policy 30(5):796-809.

Au, Wayne and Joseph J. Ferrare (Eds). 2015. Mapping Corporate Education Reform: Power and Policy Networks in the Neoliberal State. New York, NY: Routledge.

Ferrare, Joseph J. and Matthew T. Hora. 2014. “Cultural Models of Teaching and Learning in Math and Science: Exploring the Intersections of Culture, Cognition, and Pedagogical Situations.” The Journal of Higher Education 85(6):792-825.

Au, Wayne and Joseph J. Ferrare. 2014. “Sponsors of Policy: A Network Analysis of Wealthy Elites, their Affiliated Philanthropies, and Charter School Reform in Washington State.” Teachers College Record 116(8):1-24, http:tcrecord.org ID Number: 17387.

Kretchmar, Kerry, Beth Sondel and Joseph J. Ferrare. 2014. “Mapping the Terrain: Teach for America, Charter School Reform, and Corporate Sponsorship.” Journal of Education Policy 29(6):742-759.

Ferrare, Joseph J. 2013. “The Duality of Courses and Students: A Field-Theoretic Analysis of Secondary School Course-Taking.” Sociology of Education 86(2):139-157.

Ferrare, Joseph J. and Michael W. Apple. 2010. “Spatializing Critical Education: Progress and Cautions.” Critical Studies in Education 51(2):209-221.

Ferrare, Joseph J. 2009. “Can Critical Education Research be ‘Quantitative’?” Pp. 465-481 in The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Education, edited by M. W. Apple, W. Au, and L. A. Gandin. New York: Routledge.