Jake BurdickView profile
Associate Professor
Jake Burdick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Purdue University, where he has held faculty positions since 2012. His work centers on how education manifests in public and popular cultural spaces beyond formal institutions, with a focus on activist movements and community knowledge production. Education: Ph.D. from Arizona State University M.A. from Northern Arizona University B.A. from Northern Arizona University Dr. Burdick employs narrative inquiry, psychoanalytic frameworks, and post-structural theory to examine how everyday sites like social media, consumer culture, and political discourse function as educational arenas. His research critically engages with conspiracy theories, media literacy, and the pedagogical dimensions of public health crises, revealing how power operates through seemingly mundane educational encounters. Recent work (2023-2024) analyzes disinformation ecosystems and the political symbolism of mask-wearing during pandemics. His publications demonstrate a consistent trend toward examining crisis pedagogies—particularly how apocalyptic narratives in conspiracy theories shape public understanding, and how marginalized communities develop counter-pedagogies of resistance. Key thematic clusters include critical media literacy, translingual curriculum design, and the role of public intellectuals in democratic societies. Scientific Awards: James T. Sears Award for Outstanding Graduate Paper (2008) for "Conspiracy theory as a curriculum text: Populist dreams and critical dreaming" Dr. Burdick serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy and previously chaired the Critical Issues in Curriculum and Cultural Studies SIG for the American Educational Research Association. He teaches graduate courses including EDCI 58000 (Foundations of Curriculum) and EDCI 68400 (Seminar in Curriculum: Writing and Research for Equity and Diversity), emphasizing critical approaches to curriculum theory and activist scholarship.









