Ph.D. in Childhood Studies

The Department of Childhood Studies puts the issues, concepts and debates that surround the study of children and childhoods at the center of its research and teaching missions. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the Department of Childhood Studies aims both to theorize and historicize the figure of the Child and to situate the study of children and childhoods within contemporary cultural and global contexts.

Students in the Doctor of Philosophy in Childhood Studies degree program enroll in a core set of courses in order to acquire the interdisciplinary, theoretical, and methodological knowledge that is at the heart of childhood studies. This interdisciplinary coursework is the foundation for a series of investigations culminating in the dissertation through which students develop their expertise as scholars in Childhood Studies.

Throughout their studies, students in the Ph.D. program work closely with their advisors and other members of the faculty. Prospective students are encouraged to discuss their plans for graduate study with members of the faculty. The doctoral program prepares both scholars capable of innovative interdisciplinary research in childhood studies and leaders in child-related social practice and policy.

Core Requirements
All students in Ph.D. program follow the following program of study, with most completing the courses in two or three years, with the dissertation completed in the fourth and or fifth years. Although the program is intended for full-time students, part-time students are accepted into the program. Most classes will be offered in the late afternoon and early evening. There are four major program elements.

Approaches, Methods, Applications
The nature of Childhood Studies requires that students be equipped with the intellectual tools necessary to engage in interdisciplinary research focusing on children. Towards this end, 15 credits are required in classes that acquaint students with the approaches, methods and applications characteristic of the social sciences and the humanities.

Six of the credits for the study of interdisciplinary approaches, methods, and applications are earned in the Proseminar in Childhood Studies. This two-semester sequence is taken during each student's first year. Different disciplines (psychology, sociology/criminal justice, anthropology, history, religion, and English) serve as a perspective for a section of the course. During each section, through a combination of lectures, discussion and readings, students gain knowledge of the substantive topic; they also gain a broad overview of each discipline's methodology and an understanding of the strengths and limitations of each discipline's approach to the problem. Toward the end of the year, students will be guided toward an understanding of how a given problem can be approached in an interdisciplinary manner. Students also complete one course in quantitative social science (typically a statistics class), qualitative social science (ethnography), and methods in humanities (e.g., Introduction to Literary Studies).

Children in Ontogenetic, Historical, and Cultural Perspective
To provide for a solid footing for interdisciplinary research, all students complete at least six credits in courses that examine children in context. Typically, students fulfill this requirement by enrolling in two or more of the following four classes.

Child Growth & Development (3 credits)
This course will cover children's physical, mental, and social development. The goal of this course will be to provide students with an integrated perspective on how typical children develop, beginning with the milestones and developmental tasks of infancy and continuing through the biological, social, and psychological changes of adolescence.

Children and Childhood in Cross-Cultural Perspective (3 credits)
The richness and diversity of children's development is best understood by examining socialization norms and child-rearing practices of the world's various societies. The course focuses on the rich anthropological literature on children in different cultures, but considers as well cross-cultural psychological and sociological investigations.

Literary and Cultural Constructions of Childhood (3 credits)
This course will examine changing concepts of childhood as reflected in a range of literary and cultural texts from a variety of cultures and periods. It will consider the representations of children and childhood throughout literature and culture; the impact of the concept of childhood on intellectual and aesthetic traditions; the role of childhood in imagination and memory as well as in actuality; and the notion of childhood as a discursive category useful for understanding human subjectivity and the human condition.

Focused Coursework in Childhood Studies
By the beginning of the second year of study, and in consultation with her/his advisor, each student develops a plan for coursework (minimum of 27 credits) in Childhood Studies that is the foundation for the doctoral dissertation.

Doctoral Dissertation
Each student must complete an original dissertation research project (minimum of 12 credits) under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

The curriculum in the Department is multidisciplinary in scope and purpose and provides students with a strong background in both humanistic and social science perspectives on children and their representations. This approach will prepare students for careers in many areas including academics, public policy, social services, youth programming, and education.