Biocultural Perspectives on Children

3 units

As childhood is both a biological phenomenon and a social construct, this course examines childhood both across cultures and from biosocial perspectives. Lectures and readings will use case materials from around the globe. We will start by examining basic Darwinian concepts and explore childhood in a variety of cultural settings. The course will be broken down into four major areas of interest: human evolution, sociology/social anthropology, biological anthropology, and developmental psychology. The goal is to form a biosocial and cross-cultural understanding of children. We will place strong emphasis on how childhood, a uniquely human life stage, varies from culture to culture, and on issues relating to physical and social development of children. Examples will come from both the north and the south, as well as from other species.