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Nicholas C Burbules

Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor Emeritus

Research Interests

My primary research areas are philosophy of education; the ethics of communication; teaching through dialogue; and technology and education. 

Awards and Honors

Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (2024).

David Zola Distinguished Teaching Career Award, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (2021).

Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (2015).

Fellow, International Academy of Education (2011).

Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professorship, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (2009-present).

James and Helen Merritt Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Philosophy of Education (2004).

Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professorship, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (2002-2007).

Distinguished Senior College Scholar, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (2001).

University Scholar, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (1998).

Selected as a “Young Leader of the Academy,” Change magazine (1998).

Distinguished College Scholar, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (1992).

Additional Campus Affiliations

Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor Emeritus, Education Policy, Organization and Leadership

Recent Publications

Burbules, N. C. (2023). Critical Thinking and the Conditions of Democracy. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 31, Article 104. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.31.8062

Jackson, L., Davids, N., Thompson, W. C., Lussier, J., Burbules, N. C., Alston, K., Chatelier, S., Taganas, K. M. B., Mendoza, O. S., Cong, J. L., Frattura, A., & Webb, A. A. P. T. (2023). Feeling like a philosopher of education: A collective response to Jackson’s ‘The smiling philosopher’. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 55(9), 994-1005. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2063719

Johnston, J. S., & Burbules, N. (2023). Interview - Meta-Education: The Attempt to Get Beyond a Politicized Conceptual Framework in Philosophy of Education. Encounters in Theory and History of Education, 24. https://doi.org/10.24908/encounters.v24i0.17205

Burbules, N. C. (2022). A Dialogue About Dialogue. Philosophy of Education, 78(3), 48-52. https://doi.org/10.47925/78.3.048

Burbules, N. C. (2022). Promoting Critical Thinking in Anti-Critical Thinking Times: Lessons from COVID Discourse. Philosophical Inquiry in Education, 29(1), 5-10.

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