Cultural Representations of Childhood and Children's Everyday Life

What kinds of childhood images circulate in society and how children and adults participate in processes of cultural (re)production (first and foremost in global north).
Pictures and texts about children and childhood are displayed in newspapers, pamphlets, books, films and other public channels. The course will study such cultural representations in relation to different ideas of children and childhood as well as to children's lives. Both in present time and historically one can observe diverse images like the 'innocent child', 'the natural child', 'the evil child', 'the piteous child' and 'the competent child'. Such images and diverse cultural representations influence understandings of childhood. The significance and possible consequences for children's wellbeing, politics and social practices concerning children and childhood will be discussed.
Further, the course will elaborate on children's activities and lived life in a contemporary context, at childhood places like kindergarten and primary school, home, family and peer settings. How children contribute to shape their own and other's everyday lives as well as adult structuring and control of children's activities, time and space will be addressed. The course will illustrate daily life and cultural practices among children, and how they negotiate, learn and question adult practices, caring, routines and rules that create possibilities and constraints for children.
The different substantial issues of children and childhood that are addressed in the course relate to processes that can be conceptualised as cultural (re)production, and socialisation. Further, age, generation, gender, ethnicity and disability are interwoven in constructions of child(hood) identities, children's lives and cultural representations.
Relevant theories and key concepts that relate to Social studies of children and childhood will be applied and discussed, and the course includes knowledge from research that is carried out at the Norwegian Centre for Child Research and beyond.
Key concepts include: Culture, child(hood) representations, social identities, gender, minority – majority relations, normativity, discourse, child-child and adult-child practices and relations, agency, resistance, power and control, everyday life, institutionalisation and familialisation of childhood.

The course aims to introduce research based knowledge that provides an understanding of certain features of children and childhood in modern times, and to provide a basis for analysing such features in a reflexive and critical way.

Lectures, seminars and student organized group work. Please note that the course may be cancelled due to lack of teaching capacity or if less than 5 - 7 students register for the course. Please check www.ntnu.no/studies/childhood studies/master/studentinformation for updated information about what courses are available. Information about cancellations will be given no later than August 25th.