HIST 200: HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD
Fall 2023
In 1960, the historian Philip Ariès suggested – in a work that both inspired and infuriated subsequent historians – that childhood was a modern invention that had emerged in Europe only around 1500 A.D. In unpacking shifting notions of childhood, this course is designed to examine both social constructions of childhood and children’s own voices in historical perspective. How has childhood – as a category of social thought – served to determine the social roles and responsibilities of the youngest members of society? How, and to which extent, have children shaped their own histories and given voice to their own thoughts and feelings?
The scope of our readings will be comparative and international while course assignments will foreground the use of primary sources and, in particular so, oral history. Just how we can piece together, and make sense of, the faint traces that children and youth have left in the historical record? In unearthing these traces, you will have the opportunity to design your own oral history project.
- Teacher: BARBARA LORENZKOWSKI