Sociology of Childhood

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course focuses on children and on varied contexts and experiences of growing up; it also highlights the social organization and meanings of age. It explores the idea of childhood as a social construction, including cross-cultural and historical variation in assumptions. Then it highlights the changing political economy and history of childhoods, including children's roles in consumption and production in the world. Lastly, it examines the intersecting dynamics of age, social class, racial ethnicity, gender and sexuality in growing up.