Undergraduate Courses – Summer 2024

  • All Classes are Subject to Enrollment

May 28 – July 3 (6 weeks)

Intro to Childhood Studies 50:163:101 (3 credits)

Section B1; Online
Instructor:  Anna Perry

This course examines various ways that childhood has been discussed, researched and understood as a social phenomenon and social institution. Course materials are selected to illustrate how various notions of childhood and “the child” impact cultural understandings regarding the “nature” of children. Historical as well as contemporary research and perspectives are used to address such issues as changing definitions of childhood, changing age norms, the idea of children as social actors, race, gender and social class aspects of children’s experiences, children’s rights and child labor and work in a global context.

History of Youth 50:163:320 (3 credits)

Section B1; Online
Instructor:  Palak Vashist

This course explores Americans’ changing ideas about who young people were and what constituted a good childhood. The turn of the twentieth century witnessed an unparalleled enthusiasm for the future of young people. From concerns for newly emancipated young slaves and Civil War orphans, to the heady dreams (and anxieties) unleashed by young people in The Age of Aquarius, the course will track the history of youth in the twentieth century, asking how changing definitions of children—from “youth” to “adolescents” to “teenagers”—were influenced by social, political and cultural change in twentieth century America.

Gender and Education 50:163:384 (3 credits)

Section B1; Online
Instructor:  E Feinman

This course explores the relationship between gender and education, focusing primarily on the context of K-12 schooling.  Through multi-disciplinary social science studies, films, and biographical narratives, students consider the ways in which gender is socially constructed within schools.  We explore the construction and contestation of gendered identities through multiple mechanisms including within-school social interactions, practices, policies, and structures, as well as through broader socio-cultural norms.  How do the media, family life, and government shape patterns of gender within schools?  Also, the course will explore briefly trends in gender and higher education as well as international trends in girls’ education.


July 6 – August 14 (6 weeks)

Intro to Childhood Studies 50:163:101 (3 credits)

Section H1; Online
Instructor:  LaTiana Ridgell

This course examines various ways that childhood has been discussed, researched and understood as a social phenomenon and social institution. Course materials are selected to illustrate how various notions of childhood and “the child” impact cultural understandings regarding the “nature” of children. Historical as well as contemporary research and perspectives are used to address such issues as changing definitions of childhood, changing age norms, the idea of children as social actors, race, gender and social class aspects of children’s experiences, children’s rights and child labor and work in a global context.

Children’s Literacies 50:163:362 (3 credits)

Section H1; Online
Instructor:  Elaysel German

This course considers the ways in which “literacy” has expanded beyond learning to read and write. The literate child must negotiate not only traditional textual and visual formats such as picture books, animated television programs and novels, but also websites, hand held devices, and film.   Students will learn both the historical contextualization of children’s literacy and be introduced to multi-modal and transmedia texts available to–and at times created by–children and young adults, including websites, iPhone Apps, fan fiction, graphic novels and books in order to gain a deep understanding of the multiple literacies of childhood.