The Center for the Humanities, The Departments of Education, English, History, Psychology, and the programs in African and African-American Studies and American Culture Studies in Arts & Sciences are proud to offer a new Children's Studies Minor beginning the Spring semester of 2006.

What does the Children's Studies Minor entail?

In the Children's Studies minor, you will learn about children and childhood while drawing on the expertise of the departments of Education, Psychology, English, History, and the programs in African and African American Studies and American Culture Studies. You will develop a sophisticated interdisciplinary understanding of childhood and the issues surrounding the treatment and status of children throughout history.

The minor combines largely quantitative social sciences courses that measure and analyze how children mature with courses in the humanities that examine art, literature, and film dealing with children. Also, you will learn about the effects institutions have had on children, both institutions specifically designed for children and those that aren't but with which children have important interaction.

Courses will explore childhood as a form of creative memory for adults in the production of children's literature, a major market in the Western world. Courses also will look at the history of the idea of childhood and how that concept and childrearing practices generally have changed over time in the Western world.

Students will consider how, since the rise of industrialism in the West, various political factions have used childhood and children to further political causes -- from banning pornography to banning steroids. Finally, the impact of childhood and youth on the formation of popular culture will be examined.

Samples of children's magazines, books, and comic books from the library at the Center for the Humanities.

What will the Children's Studies Minor do?

A minor in Children's Studies will expose students to an interconnected set of ideas about children as objects and subjects in a variety of essential disciplines. This minor would be especially attractive to students in Education, Psychology, English, History, American Culture Studies, and Social Thought and Analysis.

The Children's Studies minor will also:

supplement students' majors
enhance the standard liberal arts education with interdisciplinary instruction in the theory, research, and practices of children and childhood
facilitate the exploration of professional careers related to children
promote research collaboration for faculty and students to strengthen the academic study of children

Students who minor in Children's Studies will receive special invitations to symposia, lectures, and other events related to the minor sponsored by the Center for the Humanities.

Samples from the toy collection at the Center for the Humanities.

Course Requirements: 15 units

Required of all minors:
Introduction to Children's Studies (3 credit)

Core Requirements: (minimum of 2 courses from this list):
Introduction to Psychology
Education, Childhood, and Society
History of the Golden Age of Children's Literature
Developmental Psychology

Students to select remaining credits from following list of selected courses:
The American School
Children & Censorship: What We Permit Children to Read and Why
African Americans and Children's Literature
Homunculus: History of Childhood
Black Adolescence
Writing for Children and Young Adults
History of Education in the U.S.
History of Urban Schooling in the U.S.
Psychology of Adolescence

Additional Information:

In consultation with their minor advisor and with prior approval, students may select an elective course for the minor that is not on the above list.

Courses used by a student to fulfill the requirements of the minor cannot be used simultaneously to fulfill the requirements of any major or other minor. All courses must be registered under the home department where the course originates.

To officially declare the Children's Studies minor please do the following:

Pick up a Declaration of Regular Minor Form in the Center for the Humanities office, the office of your academic department, or the Arts & Sciences office in Brookings Hall.
Print a copy of your student record from WEBSTAC.
Take the completed form and your student record to the departmental office.
Obtain permission from your Major advisor.
Please return all four copies of the completed form to the school/college in which you are currently enrolled. Please print clearly and press hard- you are making four copies.

Note: You may declare a minor through the end of your sixth semester. Minor coursework may not be taken CR/NCR or "double count" toward a major and toward a minor.

Supervising Staff:

Gerald Early- English; African and African American Studies; Director of the Center for the Humanities; and main Children's Studies minor advisor

Margaret Finders- Education, Children's Studies minor advisor

Desiree White- Psychology, Children's Studies minor advisor

Contact:
Office: The Center for the Humanities, East Tower, Old McMillan Hall
Phone: (314) 935-5576
E-mail: cenhumartsci.wustl.edu

For Additional Resources Come Visit Us:


The Center for the Humanities Office, East Tower of Old McMillan Hall. Room 101S.

The Center's Library, located in the basement of the Office, offers many resources for Children's Studies minors including a collection of antique children's books; books on the craft of writing for children; children's multicultural, picture, and chapter books; Newberry Award winning books; National Book Award winning books; and a variety of children's periodicals.

The library also includes a broad collection of comic books, graphic novels, and pulp fiction as well as a rotating collection of children's toys, posters, games, and collectibles.

For a full listing of books and authors, please visit our online library catalog.