Child Development

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

The optimal development of children is central to the goals of a humane society and to the future of our nation. The course will provide an overview of child development drawing primarily from the perspectives of developmental psychology and sociology. Assigned readings and lectures will explore approaches to and challenges for measuring healthy child development and highlight their applications in current scholarly research and government policy. Along with laying a foundation of the contexts that contribute to favorable child outcomes, the course will examine circumstances that place the nation’s children at risk - including high poverty rates, growing inequality, fragile families, teenage childbearing, divorce, and imbalances in work and home responsibilities. Within each topic area, students will critically evaluate relevant current policy responses as well as identify new avenues that would be suggested by a child development perspective.