Unit One:
Introduction

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CCR = Children's Culture Reader
B/MK = From Barbie to Mortal Kombat

II. Thursday January 7

General Issues

Read:

III. Tuesday January 12

The Developing Child

Read:

• Crain, "Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory" (from page 124 onwards is optional)
• Crain, "Vygotsky's Social-Historical Theory of Cognitive Development" ( pages 206-210, and pages 216 onwards are optional )
• Barbara Rogoff, "Development as Transformation of Participation in Cultural Activities"

IV. Thursday January 14

Children's Education in Cross-Cultural Perspective

• Joseph Tobin, David Wu and Dana Davidson, Preschool in Three Cultures: Japan, China, and the United States

V. Tuesday January 19

The Historical Evolution of Childhood

Read:

• Phillippe Ariés, "From Immodesty to Innocence" CCR
• Viviana A. Zelizer, "From Useful to Useless: Moral Conflict Over Child Labor" CCR

Unit Two:
Stories for and by Children

VI. Thursday January 21
Children as Storytellers

Guest Lecturer:
Oona Kersey

• Carolyn Steedman, "The Tidy House" CCR
• Vivian Paley "The Boy who Would be a Helicopter" (This American Life episode #153: Dolls
• Oona Kersey "Children Making History in the Sutter Fort Environmental Living Program"

VII. Tuesday January 26

Storytelling in Historical and Cross-cultural Perspective

Guest Lecturer: Helen Schwartzman

• H. B. Schwartzman (2009). In The Child: An Encylopedic Companion, R. A. Shweder, ed., University of Chicago Press, pp. 742-744
• Robert Darnton, "Peasants Tell Tales"
• Bettelheim, "Uses of Enchantment" + Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel" and "Snow White"

VIII. Thursday January 28
Computers and Childhood

• The Alliance for Childhood, "Fool's Gold: A Critical Look at Computers in Childhood"
• Sherry Turkle, "Cyborg Babies and Cy-doug-plasm: Ideas about self and life in the culture of simulation"
• Kaiser Family Foundation, "Zero to Six: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers"
• (optional) Ellen Wartella and Nancy Jennings, "Children and Computers: New Technology-Old Concerns"

Critical Essay topic due

IX. Tuesday Feb 2

Children as
Technologists

Guest lecturer:
Mike Horn

• Seymour Papert & Gaston Caperton, "Vision for Education: The Caperton-Papert Platform"
• Mike Eisenberg & Ann Eisenberg
  "The Developing Scientist as Craftsperson"
• Buechley, L., Eisenberg, M., Catchen, J. and Crockett, A. (2008). The LilyPad Arduino: Using Computational Textiles to Investigate Engagement, Aesthetics, and Diversity in Computer Science Education. CHI, Florence, Italy, April 2008, pp. 423-432.

X. Thursday Feb 4

Adolescent Friendships Online and off

Guest lecturer:
Brooke Foucault

• Hartup, W. W. (1993) Adolescents and their friends. In Laursen, B. Close Friendships in Adolescence.
• Mesch, G. S. & Talmud, I. (2007) Similarity and the quality of online and offline social relationships among adolescents in Israel.
• Ito, M. et al (2008) Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project, read the first part of the chapter on friendship, up to the section called "Performing Friendship"

Lab: Web Sites For Adolescents

XI. Tuesday Feb. 9

Youth and Digital Literacy

Guest lecturer:
Eszter Hargittai

• Prensky, M. 2001. "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants." On the Horizon 9:1-6.
• Bennett, Sue, Karl Maton, and Lisa Kervin. 2008. "The "digital natives" debate: a critical review of evidence." British Journal of Educational Technology 39:775-786.
• Vaidhyanathan, Siva. 2008. "Generational Myth." Chronicle of Higher Education 55:B7.

XII. Thursday February 11

Present Artifacts

Student Presentations:

Unit Four:
Play and Fantasy

XIII. Tuesday Feb 16
The Commercialization of Children's Culture

• Heather Hendershot, "Action For (and Against) Children's Television"
• Ellen Seiter, "Children's Desires/Mother's Dilemmas" CCR
• Gene Del Vecchio, "Touch the Boys Psyche" and "Touch The Girls Psyche"
• Mizuko Ito, "Technologies of the Childhood Imagination"

XIV. Thursday Feb 18
Play and Reality

• D.W. Winnicott, "Playing: A Theoretical Statement"
• Gregory Bateson, "A Theory of Play and Fantasy"
• Phillippe Aries, "A Modest Contribution to the History of Games and Pastimes"
• (optional) Jean Piaget, "The Beginnings of Play"

Rob Walker, "Risky Business"
Jon Gertner, "Hey, Mom, Is It O.K. If These Guys Market Stuff to Us?"
Benedict Carey, "Babes in a Grown-up Toyland"

Lab: Talk about paper topics

Artifact Construction proposal due

• Sigmund Freud, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (essays 2 and 3)
• Henry Jenkins, "The Senuous Child: Benjamin Spock and the Sexual Revolution" CCR

XVI. Thursday February 25

Moral development

• Lawrence Kohlberg, "Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach" (Chapter 2)
• Lawrence Kohlberg, "The Six Stages of Justice Judgement" (Appendix A)
• Carol Gilligan, "Woman's Place in Man's Life Cycle"   
• Elizabeth Chin, "Children Out of Bounds in Globalising Times"

Lab: Barbie Liberation Organization & Twist Barbie

GI Joe Convention video

XVII. Tuesday March 2

Case Study of Barbie

• Erica Rand, "Older Heads on Younger Bodies" CCR
• Nancie Martin interview B/MK
• Albert Magro, "Why Barbie is Perceived as Beautiful"
• Lynn Spigel, "Barbies Without Ken: Femininity, Feminism and the Art-Culture System"

XVIII. Thursday March 4

Gender and Non-Conformity

• Eve Sedgewick, "How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay" CCR
• Barrie Thorne, "Boys and Girls Together... But Mostly Apart" CCR
• David Sedaris, "I Like Guys" (listen to this essay in the episode)

Lab: La Vie en Rose

• Joanne Cantor, "'But It's Only Make Believe': Fantasy, Fiction and Fear"
• Gerald Jones, "Vampire Slayers"
• Media Violence Debates

Presentations of Final Projects

A Chicago Tribune article on this class!