This theme issue of the serial "Educational Foundations" contains five articles devoted to the topic of "Studies in Empowerment." In "The Disempowering of Empowerment: Out of the Revolution and into the Classroom," Margaret D. LeCompte and Kathleen Bennett deMarrais focused on placing the term in proper historical…

Describes a special topics course in American popular psychology. Course objectives are to trace the history of the popularization of psychology in America; discuss the efforts of William James, G. Stanley Hall, and others; and evaluate the quality of various examples of popular psychology. (MJP)

Maintains that fundamental historical concepts can be imparted to high school students through the use of photography, painting, film, literature, and other forms of popular culture. Provides many examples of students utilizing popular culture to understand conceptions of historical time, locate meaning, and empathize with historical people. (MJP)

Uses the film, "Dead Poets Society," to illustrate and discuss postmodernist issues in education. Although ostensibly a straightforward narrative of individuality versus conformity there are problematic areas in this film that lend themselves to multiple readings. The film reproduces a number of powerful myths without benefit of a…