Comparative & International Education Course Archive Project (CIECAP)
About CIECAP
The Comparative and International Education Course Archive Project (CIECAP) is a special project of the Center for Comparative Education and an activity of the Comparative and International Education Graduate Student Association (CIEGSA) at Loyola University Chicago. CIECAP has also been endorsed as a project of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. CIECAP is an on-line database of salient features of the introductory course in comparative education as taught at universities around the world. It is an important addition to the growing body of research on the nature of the field itself, including its form and parameters. The project's unique contribution to this research is an accessible archive of key elements of the introductory course including unit topics, referenced articles, journals and texts, as well as the interests and specializations of comparative education course instructors.There are several specific purposes to CIECAP. First, instructors either planning to teach or already teaching comparative education can use this site as a tool for designing their course syllabi and for comparing their course to what is being taught in other programs. Surveys of CIES members engaged in teaching comparative education have found little consensus in the field regarding influential figures, works, and themes. Rather, the field remains strongly heterogeneous and ever changing. The CIECAP site is able to illuminate this dynamic characteristic of the field in a way that bolsters critical self-inquiry and allows instructors to situate their course within the broader context of what is happening in comparative education programs nationally and internationally.
Closely related to this purpose, through maintaining an archive of articles, texts and journals referenced in introductory courses, CIECAP contributes to the evolving discussion regarding a comparative and international education "canon." In a November 2001 CER article on teaching comparative and international education, Leon Tikly and Michael Crossley defined the field's canon as "a body of literature that is recognized by teachers and practitioners of comparative and international education as encompassing the major areas of knowledge, issues, axioms, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies that define comparative and international education as a field of study." CIECAP operates from this definition of a canon, recognizing, as do the authors, that it is far from being a fixed entity, and that in many cases it comprises a contested terrain.
A third closely related purpose to CIECAP is that over time it will provide a rich source of information for analysis of directions in which the field appears to be moving. Working from the assumption that a field's contours and boundaries are best discerned through assessing the thoughts and actions of its practitioners, we believe that ongoing documentation of the introductory course is an effective form of such assessment.
Finally, prospective students interested in pursuing graduate study in comparative education will be able to review course outline information to get a sense of the field. As CIECAP also contains information on instructor interests and specializations, students utilizing the database can make more informed choices regarding the institution at which they would like to pursue their study.
course outlines
The course outlines of over 30 institutions in the CIECAP database are available on-line. To view pdf files of course outlines for the introductory course in comparative and international education arranged by geographical region click CIECAP COURSE OUTLINES.The Databases
At a symposium on the introductory course held at the CIES 2003 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Dr. Erwin Epstein, Dr. Kathy Stone, and then-doctoral student Bruce Collet (currently Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University) presented findings from a study of course outlines from thirty instructors and institutions in the field. CIECAP uses as its foundation the databases developed from this study, the results of which have been presented annually at CIES meetings. CIECAP welcomes the submission of introductory course outlines from the many institutions not represented in the study, as well as updated outlines from those already featured.The databases in the table below comprise the archive. We will continuously update these databases as we receive new and updated outlines.
| CIECAP DATABASE LINKS (read-only) | ||
|---|---|---|
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CLICK COURSE OUTLINE ANALYSIS OVERVIEW |
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| A summative table of salient features of course outlines per university. The table includes exact course titles, year and semester the course was offered, instructor background information, and exact names of thematic units. | ||
| BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES |
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1. CLICK COURSE OUTLINE REFERENCES 2. Click Reference Types 3. Click References by Author 4. Click References by Decade 5. Click References by University: I 6. Click References by University: II
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| A listing of books and readings used in the introductory course. Sorted by university, the tables include authors and /or editors, publication titles, and publication years. Journal acronym spellings are provided in 'Journal References' below. | ||
| JOURNAL REFERENCES |
List of journals cited |
Click Journals Cited |
| A table depicting journals highly recommended as well as journals additionally cited in course outlines. The table includes a frequency count of the total number of times these journals are referenced. | ||
| BROAD THEMES |
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1. Click CIECAP Table 2. Click University Topic Lists 3. Click Topic Analysis 4. Click Topic Graph 5. Click Topic Sort by University 6. Click Topic Sort by Theme |
| Sorted by University, the tables illustrate broad thematic areas addressed in the introductory course. The 'Topic Analysis' table includes a frequency count of the total number of times each area is addressed per outline. | ||
Submit an Outline to CIECAP
Please note that at this time the project accepts only outlines of the introductory course in comparative education. Outlines may be submitted electronically to Professor Erwin H. Epstein at eepstei@luc.edu Along with an electronic submission, hard copies of outlines may also be submitted to:
Erwin H. Epstein, Director
Center for Comparative Education
Loyola University Chicago
820 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 915-6273
Fax: (312) 915-6660
Thank you for your interest in CIECAP and we hope you find the data we have collected both informative and useful. Your feedback is important to us. Please feel free to send comments on how CIECAP has been helpful to you as well as how it might be improved in the future. Send comments to eepstei@luc.edu