James H. Williams

Headshot of James Williams

James H. Williams

Professor of International Education and International Affairs

Full-time Faculty


Contact:

Office Phone: 202-994-0831
Fax: 202-994-0148

Professor Williams has done extensive educational development work in sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to working for the African Bureau of USAID for two years. In addition, he has taught in Japan for a number of years and currently directs GW's International Education Program. His research interests include: Education and development, decentralization and administrative reform, education and health, cross-cultural organizational theory, education for marginalized and conflict-affected populations, and equity and achievement in large cross-national data sets.

Professor Williams' recent publications include: Policy-Making for Education Reform in Developing Countries: Volume II, Options and Strategies, co-authored with William Cummings (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008); "Pluralism, Identity and the State: National Education Policy towards Indigenous Minorities in Japan and Canada," Comparative Education, 44 (1), pp. 75-91 (2008, with Nazumi Takeda); and as Guest Editor, "Vulnerable, Excluded, Invisible & Ignored: The Margins of Education for All" (Special Issue), Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 10(1), pp. 1-158 (2007). He has just ended two grants: A four-year State Department grant with GWU and BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, focusing on institutional development, educational policy and training, and economic development, and a research grant from the American Educational Research Association on a cross-national, multilevel analysis of the OECD Programme on International Student Assessment (PISA). He is currently working on a literature review on education and the fragile state, a study on the implementation of Sector Wide Assistance Programs in Bangladesh, as well as collaborative research on educational policy in Cambodia.


International education and development, and educational planning and policy

Ed.D., Harvard University

EDUC 6601 International and Comparative Education
EDUC 6602 Regional Studies in International Education:

  • Education and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Comparative Solutions to Common Educational Problems

EDUC 6610 Programs and Policies in International Education:

  • Developing Countries
  • Educating Those Out of School

EDUC 6630 International Experiences
EDUC 6631 Internship in International Education
EDUC 6640 Selected Topics in International Education: Culture, Society & Education in Comparative Perspective