HIST 460/560 (CRN 37037 / CRN 37038)
SPRING 2013
WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY 10:00 - 11:20 in 276 ED

AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
TOPIC: CHILDHOOD

Professor Ellen Herman
Department of History
University of Oregon

office: 335 McKenzie Hall
phone: 346-3118
e-mail: eherman@uoregon.edu
office hours: Friday, noon - 2 and by appointment

Who counts as a child? How long does childhood last? What makes chilhood a unique phase of life and gives it special significance as a social priority?

This course grapples with the social experiences and cultural meanings of childhood by introducing students to both classic and contemporary perspectives drawn from a wide range of fields, including history, psychology, anthropology, law and social policy, journalism, and literature. It will address issues ranging from work and development to creative and visual representations of childhood. The course will also include a special 4-week unit examining autism and developmental disability. 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 following: the logic of development and the growth of a science of childhood; cross-cultural perspectives; the challenge of balancing children's rights and children's needs.

Format: This course will include some lectures to provide basic background and context. A significant 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, a 5-page assignment related to the autism unit, and a take-home final exam. Please remember to double-space and type all of your assignments in a 12-point font. Do not forget to include page numbers. For additional writing tips and resources, please consult the section of my website titled "Writing."

I also expect students to turn in three questions or comments about the reading before each class. This will not be graded, but

1. The essay will take the form of a 5-page book review. You may write about either If We Could Change the World or Pictures of Innocence. I have posted some guidelines for writing book reviews. Those students who would like more options may select another book from the list of recommended readings. 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 at the beginning of week 6, before class.

2. For the essay related to the autism unit, select a topic, person, or organization from this list. (If you are interested in writing about something that does not appear on the list, please consult with the instructor in advance.) Explain concisely 1) what you learned about the subject you chose, and 2) what it adds to our understanding of autism in the modern United States. This assignment is due at the end of week 9.

3. The take-home 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.

READING REQUIREMENTS

Required reading does not mean required buying. You can find all of the texts below on reserve in Knight Library as well as at the UO Bookstore.

De Schweinitz, Rebecca. If We Could Change the World: Young People and America's Long Struggle for Racial Equality. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.

Grandin, Temple. Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 1995.

Higonnet, Anne. Pictures of Innocence: The History and Crisis of Ideal Childhood. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998.

Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1928.

THINKING REQUIREMENTS

History is a discipline that requires discipline, no less than neuroscience, music, or engineering, That means you should expect this course to require real time and effort. But history repays those who devote time and effort to it many times over. If you work hard in this course, you can expect the tangible reward of improved skills in writing, reading, and critical analysis along with the pleasure of learning. History also promises to make us more interesting people and better, more insightful citizens of our communities and our world.

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 the section of my website titled "On Writing," which includes material on plagiarism and citation. Please also read the provisions of the UO Student Conduct Code having to do with Academic Misconduct.

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.

GRADES

Attendance and Participation, including reading questions: 20%
Book Review: 25%
Autism Essay: 25%
Final Exam: 30%

 

Course Calendar

 

Week 1

What Is Childhood? When does it begin and end? Why does it matter as a social and historical category?

Wednesday, April 3 / Introduction

Friday, April 5 / Theorizing Childhood: Development, Dependency, History

Questions / What does is mean to say that children and childhood are not fixed categories? / Can we understand childhood without also understanding adulthood, parenthood, families, and communities?

Reading /

Age of consent laws, table

Glaberson, William, "Nation’s Pain Is Renewed, and Difficult Questions Are Asked Once More," New York Times, December 14, 2012.

Landler, Mark and Peter Baker, "‘These Tragedies Must End,’ Obama Says," New York Times, December 16, 2012.

Gilman, Priscilla, "Don't Blame Autism for Newtown," New York Times, December 17, 2012.

Obama, Michelle. Remarks at Let's Move! Active Schools launch, February 28, 2013.

Schwarz, Alan, and Sarah Cohen. "A.D.H.D. Seen in 11% of U.S. Children as Diagnoses Rise." New York Times, March 31, 2013.

on pricing the priceless child: childhood, value, and the market

Zelizer, Viviana A. "The Price and Value of Children: The Case of Children's Insurance." American Journal of Sociology 86, no. 5 (1981): 1036-56.

Schor, Juliet B. "Understanding the Child Consumer." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 47, no. 5 (2008):486-90.

on the purpose of childhood studies and the challenge of locating children's voices, activities, and agency

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.

briefly, on children in history

excerpt from Ariès, Philippe. Centuries of Childhood. Translated by Robert Baldick. New York: Vintage Books, 1962.

Fass, Paula S., and Mary Ann Mason, eds. Childhood in America. New York: New York University Press, 1999, Introduction.

Week 2

Science: Conceptualizing Development

Wednesday, April 10

Assignment / Book Review statement due before class, including title and one-paragraph explanation.

Friday, April 19

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

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

Freud, Sigmund. “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.

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

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

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

Erikson, Erik. “Eight Stages of Man,” Childhood and Society. New York: W.W. Norton, 1950, 219-234.

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

Ruder, Debra Bradley. "The Teen Brain," Harvard Magazine, September-October 2008, 8-10.

Reading and Discussion Questions for Week 3

Week 3

History: The Case of the United States

Wednesday, April 17

Friday, April 12

Reading / De Schweinitz, Rebecca. If We Could Change the World

Reading and Discussion Questions for De Schweinitz, If We Could Change the World

Week 4

Culture: Their Children and Ours

Wednesday, April 24

Friday, April 26

Reading / Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa

Reading and Discussion Questions for Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa

Week 5

Culture: Innocence and Danger, Risks and Rights

Wednesday, May 1

Friday, May 3

Reading / Higonnet, Pictures of Innocence

Reading and Discussion Questions for Higonnet, Pictures of Innocence

Week 6

Begin 4-Week Unit on Autism

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 evolves. I will share some of my own work with the class and, in particular, would like to involve students in making suggestions for Autism: A Digital History, a research-based digital project currently under development.

Autism: The Discovery of a Clinical Syndrome and the History of a Diagnosis

Wednesday, May 8

Reading / Key texts on autism in rough chronological order

Kanner, Leo. "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact." The Nervous Child 2 (1943): 217-250.

Bettelheim, Bruno. Child Schizophrenia Symposium, 1955: "Schizophrenia as a Reaction to Extreme Situations." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 26, no. 3 (July 1956): 507-518.

Friday, May 10

Rimland, Bernard. "The Etiology of Infantile Autism: The Problem of Biological Versus Psychological Causation." In Classic Readings in Autism, edited by Anne M. Donnellan. New York: Teachers College Press, 1985, 84-101.

Baron-Cohen, Simon, Alan M. Leslie, and Uta Frith. "Does the Autistic Child Have a “Theory of Mind”?" Cognition 21 (1985): 37-46.

Meyerding, Jane. "Thoughts on Finding Myself Differently Brained." 1998.

Diagnostic criteria for autism in the DSM, from DSM-I through DSM-IV, 1952-2000

Week 7

Autism: The Experience

Wednesday, May 15

listen to Temple Grandin's TED talk

Friday, May 17

Reading / Grandin, Thinking in Pictures, chapters 1-5

Listening / Autism Grows Up
This recent documentary from Capital Public Radio tells the story of six young Californians at various points on the autism spectrum. Their stories raise questions about what happens to autistic "children" when they age out of special education and become adults.

Week 8

Autism: The Experience

Wednesday, May 22

Friday, May 24

Reading / Grandin, Thinking in Pictures, chapters 5-11

Week 9

Autism: A Digital History

Wednesday, May 29

Friday, May 31

Week 10

Conclusion: What does it mean to take children and childhood seriously?

Wednesday, June 5

Friday, June 7