The Knowledge-Power Relationship and Its Application to Curricular Change at Drury

As my knowledge of Foucault’s ideas have grown over the last few weeks I have begun to hone in on the application possibilities within education. And I have come to the conclusion, in light of recent events, that I will focus on the conduct of Drury’s very own administration as of late. Formerly, my goal was to analyze the power-knowledge relations related to curriculum and curriculum change; while, this will remain a part of my project, as this is entirely relevant to the composition of liberal arts, my project has gained both specificity and additional elements. By this I mean that as well as looking at how curriculum is related to the student/knowledge, I will be critically analyzing the methods by which curriculums and bodies of knowledge are changing here and now at Drury.

                When reading Foucault’s works a common theme and idea is almost always present. That different time periods can be discussed as having different knowledges, or epistemes. So therein lies several important questions: What is an episteme? And, more importantly, when and how does an episteme change? In other words, why do people think in different ways in different times and what can change how people thing? In Discipline and Punish, Foucault models the change from punishment to discipline in terms of the search for efficiency and effectivity. That is, reformatory prisons are both more effective and less messy when it comes to changing criminals and the public. Although Foucault does make it clear that the modern penal system is limited in many ways. In my project I will be looking to understand the underside and backdrop of the discourses, which make up the current episteme, that are relevant to the changes we as a university are experiencing.

                Upon a cursory look and understanding, it seems that the shift in priorities of the university is most likely an expression of a scientistic cultural shift. This is hardly controversial, as it is obvious that STEM programs are receiving more, or at least not less, funding and attention. However, just as Foucault looks to understand shifting epistemes by analyzing how power is manifested and utilized, I will do the same by looking at how these changes are made.

Due to the nature of my inquiry here it is likely that I will be able offer some possible speculations and estimations on the impacts of curriculum changes at Drury. This means, that with this study I might be able to give a reasonable projection of what knowledge changes in our curriculum might produce. In other words, the result of my study might have implications in what a future Drury student might be like.