The graduate programs in literacy education reflect the field's acknowledgment that the traditional divisions among programs in early literacy, English/language arts education, and reading fail to recognize how much those areas have in common. More specifically, in all programs students examine both the social and cognitive dimensions of reading and writing. Coursework is designed to encourage students to recognize the effects of culture, social position, and status on the ways that language is used, valued, and received and to explore instructional contexts that allow learners to be engaged with each other doing meaningful work. Because faculty value students as important sources of knowledge, courses build on students' experiences as learners and teachers. In support of this goal, students do research in most courses on both the masters and doctoral levels. Members of the program area also encourage students to examine their theories by requiring them to situate their specific area of interest in the study of related areas in a range of disciplines and to ground their studies in the social and philosophical foundations of education.