HIST 104 Coming of Age in America: A History of Childhood and Adolescence
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
SEM
Are children born into original sin, consigned to Hell if not baptized before they die? Should children be allowed, even encouraged to work in mills and factories? At what age should children be legally permitted to consent to marriage or sex? What are the root causes of school shootings? Are computer games in particular and popular culture in general, producing a generation of sedentary, dull-witted Americans? What do these questions tell us about the changing nature of childhood and adolescence throughout American history?
This course asks what it means to be a child and come of age in a particular historical context. Although we will be primarily concerned with a historical analysis of changing notions of American childhood, we will examine the above questions from a variety of viewpoints. We will dip into scholarship from anthropology and educational theory, while also enjoying literature and memoirs.
