Historical Perspectives on Childhood

The course addresses the social and cultural construction of childhood and children's lives through history from early modern times to our days in the western world. Historical changes of childhood and children's lives will be interpreted within the framework of family, work-life and school. Intergenerational transfer is central in childhood history as well as in historical development in general, and will be addressed. Implications of social structures on children's lives in history will also be discussed as well as themes such as gender, class, identity and ethnicity. Theoretical perspectives on child labour and children's agency and participation in work-life and society will be challenged and discussed.

* Acquire knowledge about the historical construction of childhood and children's everyday lives and how childhood has changed with time and space.
* Provide an overview of essential research perspectives in historical studies of children and childhood.
* Introduce key debates concerning the research and changing perspectives on childhood and children's everyday life in history.

Total lecture hours: 20 hours, total seminar hours: up to 12 hours. The course consists of: (1) A common introduction with lectures. (2) A seminar with presentation and discussion of the individual students' working papers. Students may choose between writing a working paper individually, or together with 1-2 fellow students. Each student will be required to comment on another student's working paper.