This course recognizes and examines childhood as a structural form
and children as social agents who contribute to societal reproduction
and change through their negotiations with adults and through their
creative production of a series of peer cultures with other
children.  The course considers the relation of childhood to other
social forms or institutions and examines children’s participation in
and contributions to society historically and cross-culturally.  The
course will compare the importance of family and peer experiences for
children’s social development and the quality of their childhoods.
There will be a special focus on the importance of peer interaction
and culture for childhood.  We will examine experiences in the family
that play a key role in children’s transition to an initial peer
culture.  We will then describe and consider central themes and
features of children’s preschool, preadolescent, and early adolescent
peer cultures.  The course also examines how cultural values and
social policies in the areas of education, family, and work affect
children’s lives.  Finally, the course will also examine the social
problems of children and the future of childhood.

There will be a mid-term and final essay exam, two short (4-5 page
papers) related to key topics in the course, and weekly paragraphs
discussing readings and class lectures.  There will be a packet of
assigned readings and three books for the course.  The books required
for the course are:

Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler (1998). Peer Power: Preadolescent
Culture and Identity. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

William A. Corsaro (1997). The Sociology of Childhood.  Thousand
Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Donna Eder (1995). School Talk: Gender and Adolescent Culture. New
Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.