Gender and history of education: itineraries of Rebecca Rogers

Abstract

Professor since 2006 at one of the most prestigious French Departments of Education, (Université Paris Descartes), Rebecca Rogers’s academic trajectory has been associated from the start with Women and Gender studies and the History of Education. Born in the USA, she has built her career in Europe, particularly in France. She earned her PhD at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales under the supervision of Dominique Julia. She began her teaching career at the University of Iowa in the United States, and in 1994 obtained a position at the Université de Strasbourg as Maître de Conference. In 2015, she assumed the presidency of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE), the most relevant scientific society in the field of History of Education. Her academic background and involvement in the educational arena as well as the theoretical and methodological choices are addressed in this interview, which also describes the relationship established with Brazilian researchers in projects carried out in the Faculties of Education of UNICAMP and USP. The current debates about gender emerging in the public sphere in France and the challenges faced by historical-educational research, whether in the dimension of a transnational history of education or in the consolidation of a field of research also emerge in Rebecca Rogers’ interview. This list of topics makes the interview dense in problematizations, opening a range of questions that challenges readers interested in the international academic and political scene.