History of Childhood

Catalog description

This course examines experiences of childhood in the United States from the nineteenth century to the present. Over the past few centuries, cultural attitudes and beliefs about children, expectations for their behavior, and the material conditions of children's lives have changed markedly. Far from being insulated from the political and economic developments that surrounded them, children often experienced social inequalities at their sharpest. Thus, studying childhood provides an important avenue to understand how distinctions of class, race, and gender have patterned American life. The course engages students in reading and analyzing secondary works in the history of childhood as well as works produced by, about, and for children in the past. Since children's first-hand experiences are often mediated through the perspective of parents, teachers, or other sources, the course raises methodological questions about how best to interpret and understand the experiences of the inarticulate. Only one version may be taken for credit.