Youth and Society

Catalog description

Students will discuss what it means to study youth from a human development lens and research methods for doing so, including social, physical, mental, and emotional perspectives. This course focuses on the importance of culture and social institutions, such as family and peer experiences, for youths' social development. Specific topics include: shifting meanings of adolescence and young adulthood historically and in contemporary society; how gender, socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality shape youths' experiences; human services and social policies impacting youth; what it means to be "popular"; and the role of culture (through toys, games, books, music, television, movies, etc.) in youths' lives.