Dissertation Defense Schedule
Academic Excellence
Sharing original dissertation research is a principle to which the University of Delaware is deeply committed. It is the single most important assignment our graduate students undertake and upon completion is met with great pride.
We invite you to celebrate this milestone by attending their dissertation defense. Please review the upcoming dissertation defense schedule below and join us!
PROGRAM | Education
From Laissez-Faire to Vouchers: An Intellectual History of Market Libertarian Thought on Education in Twentieth-Century America
By: Kevin Currie-Knight Chair: Robert Hampel
ABSTRACT
This is a history of pro-market arguments about American education—the idea that we should reject the current public education system and replace it with a market in educational services that allows producers to offer competing schooling options and consumers to choose those that work best for them. I want to explore how and why libertarian arguments regarding education have changed over the twentieth century. The research questions I will answer are: (1) What did key twentieth-century market libertarians write about education in a free society? (2) How might the various defenses and visions of markets in education reflect the different influences on the intellectual advocating them? (3) How did market libertarian criticisms of state education, justifications for educational markets, and visions of what educational markets should look like compare with each other, and how did they change over time?
Using the writings and biographies of several prominent market libertarian intellectuals, as well as works written by their contemporaries and predecessors, I will focus on how each crafted his or her argument for markets in education and how each imagined the proper role (if any) for governments and private actors in markets in schooling, as well as explain how their arguments might have been influenced by others.
The Process
Step-by-Step
Visit our “Step-by-Step Graduation Guide” to take you through the graduation process.From formatting your Dissertation to Doctoral Hooding procedures.
Dissertation Manual
Wondering how to set up the format for your paper. Refer to the “UD Thesis/Dissertation Manual” for formatting requirements and more.
Defense Submission Form
This form must be completed two weeks in advance of a dissertation defense to meet the University of Delaware Graduate and Professional Education’s requirements.
