Tuesday/Thursday: 10:00 - 11:20
location: 214 McKenzie Hall
Professor Ellen Herman
office: 321 McKenzie Hall
phone: 346-3118
e-mail: eherman@darkwing.uoregon.edu
web site: www.uoregon.edu/~eherman
office hours: Tuesday 1:00 - 2:00; Thursday 11:30-12:30

This syllabus will remain posted on the instructor’s web site throughout the term for your convenience.

This course grapples with the social meaning and experience of childhood by introducing students to both classic and contemporary perspectives on that topic drawn from a wide range of fields, including history, psychology, anthropology, law and social policy, journalism, and creative literature. It will address issues ranging from work and development to fictional and visual representations of childhood. The course will also include a special 4-week unit examining child adoption. Although the primary emphasis will be on children and childhood in the modern United States, the course will also consider how childhood varies across time and culture.
We will begin by addressing directly one of the fundamental challenges facing anyone interested in childhood studies: the fact that it is an enterprise defined and conducted almost entirely by adults. During the term, we will explore such topics as: the logic of development and the growth of a science of childhood; cross-cultural and historical perspectives; children's rights and children's needs; ethical dilemmas associated with childhood.

Format: This course will include a weekly lecture to provide basic background and context. The emphasis in the course, however, will be on reading and discussion. Students are expected to come to class prepared to talk. Active participation is a very important part of the course.

Writing Requirements: There will be one 5-page essay (double spaced), a short assignment related to the Adoption History Project (week 9), and a take-home final exam. Starting in week 2, students must also turn in brief, weekly logs which raise at least three questions about the required reading.

1. The essay will take the form of a book review on one of the topics covered by the course. I have posted some guidelines for writing book reviews. Books may be selected from the list of recommended readings or in consultation with the instructor. Students are expected to make final decisions about their book reviews by week 3, when they will hand in a paragraph-long statement explaining their choice. The review itself is due in week 6.

2. The Adoption History Project assignment will involve a short written response to the web site. Instructions will be given in advance about how to access the web site (which is not yet on the Internet). This assignment will receive credit or no credit. It will not be evaluated with a letter grade.

3. The final exam will consist mainly of essay questions that cover the readings and synthesize the main themes of the course.

Please notice that the bulk of written work is due during the second half of the term. Plan your time accordingly.

Academic Honesty: If this course is to be a worthwhile educational experience, your work must be original. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are very serious infractions and will not be permitted. Students who are uncertain about what plagiarism is, or who have questions about how to cite published, electronic, or other sources should feel free to consult with the instructor. You can also consult my brief guide to plagiarism and citation.

Lateness Policy: No late assignments will be accepted and no makeup exams will be given. Students who miss deadlines will be given an F for that assignment.

Accommodations: If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please arrange to see me soon and request that Disability Services send a letter verifying your disability.

Grading:
attendance and participation: 15%
essay/book review: 30%
reaction to The Adoption History Project: 10%
weekly logs: 10%
final exam: 35%

Required Reading:
Course Packet, noted below as CP.
Paula S. Fass and Mary Ann Mason, eds., Childhood in America (New York: New York University Press, 1999).
Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation (New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1928).
Anne Higonnet, Pictures of Innocence: The History and Crisis of Ideal Childhood (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998).
Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven (New York: Harper Perennial, 1993).
Note: Required reading does not mean required buying. You can find all of the above on reserve in Knight Library as well as at the UO Bookstore.

Week 1: What Is Childhood: What does it mean? When does it begin and end? Why does it matter as a social category and “problem”?

Tuesday, January 7: Introduction

Thursday, January 9: Theorizing Childhood: Development, Dependency, Social Context

Can we study childhood without also studying adulthood, parenthood, families, and communities?

Lisa Belkin, “Your Kids Are Their Problem,” New York Times Magazine, July 23 2000, 30-. [CP]

Christina Hoff Sommers, “The War Against Boys,” Atlantic Monthly, May 2000, 59-74. [This article can be found on course reserve in Knight Library. The instructor will also make a copy available for students who wish to photocopy it.]

Matthew Speier, “The Adult Ideological Viewpoint in Studies of Childhood,” in Rethinking Childhood: Perspectives on Development and Society, ed. Arlene Skolnick (Boston: Little, Brown, 1976), 168-186. [CP]

Week 2: Historical Childhood: The Case of the United States

Tuesday, January 14

Thursday, January 16

Paula S. Fass and Mary Ann Mason, eds., Childhood in America
Please read at least the following selections. I have listed them in the order in which they appear in the book and have included the page number on which they begin. They total approximately 100 pages.

Children’s Voices from the Civil War, 129
Adolescence in Historical Perspective, 132
Families Started by Teenagers, 169
Family Life in Plymouth Colony, 201
The Life of a Slave Child, 221
Managing Young Children, 223
Cracking Down in Kids, 229
Father/Masters: Children/Servants, 237
Apprentices, Servants, and Child Labor, 244
Choosing a Trade, 249
A Child Worker in the Garment Industry, 256
The Changing Social Value of Children, 260
Child Labor and the Law, 272
Education and the Concept of Childhood, 283
The Child and the Curriculum, 303
School Desegregation, 318
Orphans’ Court, 352
Placing Orphan Children With Farm Families, 359
Shadow of the Plantation: Separation and Adoption, 371
Fit to Be a Parent?, 387
Lesbian Parents in Custody Disputes, 391
Teenage Voices from Foster Care, 399
Waifs of the City’s Slums, 417
Infant Mortality, 427
By Silence Betrayed: The Sexual Abuse of Children in America, 449
Media Violence and Children, 469
Polymorphous Perversity, 491
Lolita, 511
The Disappearance of Childhood: The Total Disclosure Medium, 515
The Politics of Parental Notification, 530
The State as Superparent, 549
The Children’s Charter, 570
The Right to Vote, 591

Week 3: Scientific Childhood: Conceptualizing Development

Tuesday, January 21

Book Review statement due, including title and one paragraph explanation.

Thursday, January 23

Significant statements by modern developmental theorists, considered in chronological order:

Charles Darwin, “A Biographical Sketch of an Infant,” Mind 2 (1877):285-294. [CP]

Sigmund Freud, “The Sexual Life of Human Beings” in Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, trans. James Strachey, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (New York: W.W. Norton, 1966), 303-319. [CP]

Sigmund Freud, “The Development of the Libido and the Sexual Organizations” in A General Introduction to Psycho-Analysis, trans. Joan Riviere (New York: Liveright Publishing Corp., 1935), 281-296. [CP]

John B. Watson, “How the Behaviorist Studies Infants and Children,” in Psychological Care of Infant and Child (New York: W.W. Norton, 1928), 11-44. [CP]

Arnold Gesell, “Growth Potency and Infant Personality” in Infancy and Human Growth (New York: Macmillan, 1928), 355-378. [CP]

Kenneth B. Clark and Mamie P. C lark, “Emotional Factors in Racial Identification and Preference in Negro Children,” Journal of Negro Education 19, no. 3 (Summer 1950): 341-350. [CP]

Erik Erikson, “Eight Ages of Man,” in Childhood and Society (New York: W.W. Norton, 1950), 219-234. [CP]

Jerome Kagan, The Nature of the Child (New York: Basic Books, 1984), chap. 7, 240-276 (“The Role of the Family”) [CP]

Week 4: Cultural Childhood: Other Cultures, Other Childhoods

Tuesday, January 28

Thursday, January 30

Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa

Week 5: Cultural Childhood: The Notion of Innocence

Tuesday, February 4

Thursday, February 6

Anne Higonnet, Pictures of Innocence

Weeks 6 - 9: Focus on Child Adoption

This 4-week unit has two goals: 1) to have students explore a single issue in some depth, and 2) to expose students to a major research project in the field as it takes shape. I will share some of my own work with the class and, in particular, would like to involve students in making suggestions for The Adoption History Project, a web site currently under development.

Week 6: Historical Adoption: Legal and Social Arrangements

Tuesday, February 11

Thursday, February 13

Book review due

reading and viewing: The Adoption History Project, selections TBA

Week 7: Scientific Adoption: Adoption Technology and Research

Tuesday, February 18

Thursday, February 20

reading and viewing: The Adoption History Project, selections TBA

Week 8: Cultural Adoption: Matching Controversies and Authenticity Struggles

Tuesday, February 25

Thursday, February 27

Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven

Indian Child Welfare Act, excerpt [CP]

National Association of Black Social Workers 1972 statement, in Children and Youth in America: A Documentary History, ed. Robert H. Bremner, vol. III: 1933-1972, Parts One through Four (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974):777-780. [CP]

film: “First Person Plural”

Week 9: The Adoption History Project

The Adoption History Project is a web site, currently under construction, that has grown out of my research on this topic. It will introduce the history of child adoption in modern America by profiling people, organizations, and topics in a way that will hopefully interest participants in adoption as well as students and scholars. During this week, I will tell you a little bit about how this public history project came about, show you the site in its current, unfinished state, and get your ideas and suggestions about how to improve it and make it the best possible resource. I expect the site to go public in spring or summer 2003, so your participation in this will really count.

Tuesday, March 4

Thursday, March 6

Week 10: Conclusion

Tuesday, March 11

Thursday, March 13

Final exam to be handed out in class on Thursday, March 13. Due Tuesday, March 18 by 5 pm in 321 McKenzie Hall.