Master of Arts in Childhood Studies

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Core Requirements

Students in the M.A. program complete the following program of study in approximately two years. Most classes will be offered in late afternoon and early evening.

a.   Proseminar in Childhood Studies  (6 credits) 

This two-semester sequence will be taken during each student’s first year.  An overarching theme (e.g., child health) will be selected, and different disciplines (psychology, sociology/criminal justice, anthropology, history, religion, and English) will serve as a perspective for a section of the course.  During each section, through a combination of lectures, discussion, and readings, students will gain knowledge of the substantive topic; they will also gain a broad overview of each discipline’s methodology and an understanding of the strengths and limitations of each discipline’s approach to the problem.  Toward the end of the year, students will be guided toward an understanding of how a given problem can be approached in an interdisciplinary manner.

b.      Child Growth & Development  (3 credits)  

This course will cover children’s physical, mental, and social development.  The goal of this course will be to provide students with an integrated perspective on how typical children develop, beginning with the milestones and developmental tasks of infancy and continuing through the biological, social, and psychological changes of adolescence.

c.    One course in cultural perspectives  (3 credits)

Children and Childhood in Cross-Cultural Perspective  The richness and diversity of children’s development is best understood by examining socialization norms and child-rearing practices of the world’s various societies.  The course focuses on the rich anthropological literature on children in different cultures, but considers as well cross-cultural psychological and sociological investigations.

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Literary and Cultural Constructions of Childhood This course will examine changing concepts of childhood as reflected in a range of literary and cultural texts from a variety of cultures and periods.  It will consider the representations of children and childhood throughout literature and culture; the impact of the concept of childhood on intellectual and aesthetic traditions; the role of childhood in imagination and memory as well as in actuality; and the notion of childhood as a discursive category useful for understanding human subjectivity and the human condition.

            d.   Individual Research   (3 credits)

This course will offer students the opportunity to research a topic of special interest to them.  Each  student will work closely with an advisor to produce a capstone project/paper of 25-30 pages.

            e.   Disciplinary Concentrations   (12 credits)

Each student will choose two concentrated areas of study, one from the disciplines in the humanities and one from the social sciences.  6 credits must be completed in each concentration.  This will ensure grounding in two traditional fields of study.