UW-Madison’s Michael W. Apple was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universidad de Santiago de Chile for his significant contributions to critical education.

Apple is the John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Policy Studies.

Apple receives honorary docgtorate
Michael Apple (center) is honored during a
ceremony May 24 at the Universidad de Santiago
de Chile for his significant contributions to critical
education. Universidad de Santiago de Chile photo

The award from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (University of Santiago, Chile) was given to him during a ceremony on May 24 and is Apple’s 10th honorary degree or equivalent. Such honors are among the highest in academia, and usually are conferred as a way of recognizing a distinguished visitor’s contributions to a specific area of study — or to society as a whole. Generally, each institution only awards such an honor to one or two esteemed people per year.

Apple also was recently awarded the University Medal by the University de Playa Ancha in Valparaiso, Chile.

Apple, who has called UW-Madison home since 1970, is regarded as one of the most important and influential education scholars of our time, and has made crucial contributions to the development of critical educational theory, research and practice.  His books, “Ideology and Curriculum,” and “Official Knowledge,” have been listed as among the 50 most significant education books during the 20th century.

To learn more about Apple’s most recent honorary doctorate and his visit to Chile, check out this news story released by the Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The report notes how “Apple is one of the most prominent representatives of the Critical Pedagogy approach. He has been considered among the most influential figures in the field of education of the 20th century, particularly for his research on ideology and curriculum, and the development of democratic schools in addition to his questioning over neoliberal education.”

The report adds how during the “ceremony, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi Cid and General Secretary Gustavo Robles Labarca awarded Dr. Apple the Universidad de Santiago de Chile’s gold medal and diploma that certifies this high academic distinction.”