David Barker teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses in Sociology, History, and Philosophy of Education. Dr. Barker also designs and conducts numerous on-line classes, and has, since 2003, taught in EIU’s Alternative Pathways to Teacher Certification program. His academic and research emphasis is on early-American education, with a specialization in the educational, social and political thought of Thomas Jefferson. He has published materials relating to Thomas Jefferson and the Founding of the University of Virginia and reviews of books pertaining to early-American education, and has conducted scholarly presentations on the Puritan Cultural Dynamic and on Thomas Jefferson and No Child Left Behind. Dr. Barker’s current research focuses American education in the post-Revolutionary South, the Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson, as well as English Romantic-era literature.  Dr. Barker’s personal interests include classical-music composition theory and nature photography.