50:163:101 Introduction to Childhood Studies (D) (3) An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of children and childhood, from birth to adolescence. It draws on many disciplines, including anthropology, psychology, sociology, criminal justice, English, history, religion, economics, and biology. Presentation of the field of childhood studies is designed to provide instruction and information to everyone interested in children and childhood, including those directly responsible for ministering to children's needs and those formulating policies affecting their lives and futures. The lectures and the readings have been designed to foster thinking not only about research in the field, but also about the applied, policy, and clinical implications of the research in order to make informed decisions concerning children and youth. Note: This course is reading and writing intensive. Be prepared for weekly reading assignments ranging between several chapters to a whole book.
Prerequisites: 50:350:101-102.

50:163:320 History of Youth (3) This course explores Americans' changing ideas about who young people were and what constituted a good childhood. The turn of the 20th century witnessed an unparalleled enthusiasm for the future of young people. From concerns for newly emancipated young slaves and Civil War orphans, to the heady dreams (and anxieties) unleashed by young people in the Age of Aquarius, the course will track the history of youth in the 20th century, asking how changing definitions of children--from "youth" to "adolescents" to "teenagers"--were influenced by social, political, and cultural change in 20th-century America.

50:163:325 Youth in a New Nation (3) Examines the lives of American young people from colonial times to the Civil War. Readings will include information about the participation of children and youth in such important historical events as the Salem Witch Trials, slavery, and civil war. The course will grapple with important questions such as what does "childhood" mean when young people are engaged in or affected by "adult" pursuits and occurrences?

50:163:350 Kids' Media Cultures (3) Examines relationships between children, childhood, and the media from historical, cultural, social, political, and psychological perspectives. Radio, film, and television along with digital media and new technologies will be examined, as will certain types of print media. Coursework focuses on the ways in which media have and continue to be understood both as threatening to childhood and as liberating/empowering for children. The course will also explore extensions of kids' media culture into everyday life (e.g., clothing, food, education) and the use of media by children. Students will be expected to conduct research on a topic relevant to course materials.

50:163:352 Developing Minds and Bodies (3) Examines the history of adults' effort to sculpt and standardize children's development. Children are, by definition, in a constant state of becoming. Year after year, they get bigger, smarter, and more mature, while adults seem obsessed with observing, measuring, and even controlling their growth. Should little boys be given hormones just because they might grow up to be short? Can 3-year-olds legitimately be diagnosed with severe psychiatric disorders? We will ask questions about young sporting bodies (can children truly choose to devote themselves to highly competitive physical training in kindergarten?) and developing sexual bodies (should sexuality be part of elementary school curricula?). Students should be prepared to engage in thoughtful analysis of these questions, without the expectation of clear answers.

50:163:360 Children's Books and Illustration (3) This course surveys poetry, prose, drama, and illustrated books for children, primarily from the Anglo-American tradition, over the 300-year history of its development. The study of children's literature constitutes a valuable field of critical inquiry important to understanding literary history, the cultural construction of childhood, the history of childhood, and the development of children's culture and visual literacy. The course will consider techniques and style in writing and illustrating books for young audiences.

50:163:361 Young Adult Literature (3) This course surveys classic and contemporary examples of adolescent literature from prose, graphic novels, film, and television. The goal will be to read widely in the literature and popular culture that represents the adolescent experience particularly, but not exclusively, from the American perspective. One focus of the course will be to reflect the diversity of experiences in the adolescent population according to race, gender, ethnicity, etc.

50:163:362 Children's Literacies (3) This course considers the ways in which "literacy" has expanded beyond learning to read and write. The literate child must negotiate not only traditional textual and visual formats such as picture books, animated television programs, and novels, but also websites, handheld devices, and film. Students will learn both the historical contextualization of children's literacy and be introduced to multimodal and transmedia texts available to--and at times created by--children and young adults, including websites, iPhone apps, fan fiction, graphic novels, and vooks in order to gain a deep understanding of the multiple literacies of childhood.

50:163:370 Children and Migration (3) Considers the unprecedented movement of children around the world in the 21st century. The movement of children around the globe may result in losses of family, friends, culture, and language and give rise to considerable challenges of adaptation and integration. Students will have the opportunity to examine the migration of children by drawing on international case studies from Europe, North and South America, Southern Africa, and the Middle East. The course will include a critical examination of theories of migration and their applicability to children and issues of integration into host societies.

50:163:371 Global Childhoods (3) Considers the 20th and 21st centuries as eras of globalization in which traditional social and familial structures are breaking down. Within this context children's experiences are infused by influences from across the globe. In this course we will examine the extent to which children are impacted by global factors including cultural and religious diversity and hybridity, transnational families, and interethnic relationships. Salient issues will include children's identity in a globalized world, the maintenance or erosion of tradition, the impact of travel, and the impact of globalization on children's cultural worlds. The course will draw upon international examples of globalization and the interrelationships between local and global factors in children's worlds.

50:163:380 Special Topics: Childhood Studies I (3) Provides an in-depth examination of a topic or theme related to the study of children and childhood.� Topics will rotate.

50:163:381 Special Topics: Childhood Studies II (3) Provides an in-depth examination of a topic or theme related to the study of children and childhood.� Topics will rotate.

50:163:382 Urban Education (3) Explores the ways in which urban schools are created as social, cultural, economic, and political institutions.� The relationship between schools and their urban environments will be explored, as well as how schools contest or perpetuate inequalities along racial, social class, ethnic, and gender lines.� The course will also consider contemporary school reform movements and their contexts.

50:163:383 Youth Identities and Urban Ecology (3) This course considers how urban ecologies shape the identities of youth coming of age in cities within the United States and across the world and investigates the multiple roles of youth, paying particular attention to how identities are informed by structure of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality.� The contexts in which youth identities are examined include neighborhood, school, work, family, and peer groups.

50:163:384 Gender and Education (3) Explores the relationship between gender and education, focusing primarily on the context of K-12 schooling.� Through multidisciplinary social science studies, films, and biographical narratives, students consider the ways in which gender is socially constructed within schools.� We explore the construction and contestation of gendered identities through multiple mechanisms including within-school social interactions, practices, policies, and structures, as well as through broader sociocultural norms.� How do the media, family life, and government shape patterns of gender within schools?� Also, the course will explore briefly trends in gender and higher education as well as international trends in girls' education.�

50:163:391 Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood Environments (3) This course will develop the student's ability to choose and utilize appropriate early childhood assessment tools. It will convey the connection between child and environmental assessments to promote developmentally appropriate practice and environmental enhancements that strategically support all learners and meet the mission of a quality program.

50:163:392 Designing an Early Childhood Environment (3) This course will develop the student's ability to critically analyze and enhance their early childhood environments. It will provide a comprehensive overview of environments that encompass birth to age 8 settings to ensure students are able to plan and support developmentally appropriate environments that meet the diverse needs of children, staff, and families.
Prerequisite: 50:163:391.

50:163:394 Social and Emotional Development (3) Introduces infant/toddler mental health and the interaction processes essential to promote quality infant-toddler programs in center, family-based, and other relevant settings. The course will cover topics such as attachment, separation and loss, and separation and individual construct, as well as the use of observation to further enhance the child and primary caregiver relationship.

50:163:395 Director's Academy (4) This course will develop the student's ability to support early childhood education staff in a center-based environment. It will assist the student in developing appropriate skill sets in the areas of staff support and development, introduction to management issues, strategic planning, facilities improvement, and contractual agreements. This course fulfills the New
Jersey Department of Family Development 60-hour course required for New Jersey Childcare Center Directors and Administrators.

50:163:396 Leadership through Mentoring: Practice in the ECE Setting (3) This course will develop the student's ability to build effective partnering relationships between mentors and prot�g�s. It will focus on the skills required to practice reflective and supportive supervision, the development of effective staff development experiences, and evaluation. Includes the study of supervisory models and staff evaluation.
Prerequisite: 50:163:395. This course fulfills one of the three major components of the National Association of the Education of Young Children director's credentials.

50:163:397 Management and Budgetary Practice in ECE (3) This course will develop the student's ability to create and support fiscal oversight for an early childhood program, regardless of its size or funding auspices. It will convey how sound management policies include long-range fiscal planning and operating budget preparation, reconciliation, and review to promote a center's mission and vision. Prerequisite: 50:163:395.

50:163:398 Staff Supervision (3) This course develops students' abilities to create and support personnel policies in a high-quality early childhood program, regardless of its size or funding auspices. The course will incorporate reflective supervision to enhance staff attraction and retention practices that meet current employment regulatory requirements and antidiscrimination mandates. This course fulfills one of the three major components of the National Association of the Education of Young Children director's credentials.

50:163:400 Directed Readings (3) This independent study course focuses on readings connected to a research project. Topics are selected to reflect research projects currently under way on the campus.
Prerequisites: This course is by permission only and should only be undertaken by advanced students who have an established relationship with a faculty member who is willing to supervise the course.

50:163:450 Capstone in Childhood Studies (3) Students will write a major interdisciplinary paper in their senior year.

50:163:460 Understanding Childhood through Statistics (3) Provides students with the skills necessary to understand, critique, and produce quantitative information concerning children. Childhood is frequently characterized in terms of numbers, charts, correlations, and other means that rely upon the manipulation of quantitative information.��Students will learn the strengths and limitations of different methods used to acquire quantitative information about children and childhood, and will also use statistical programs to analyze data and to present results of analyses in readily interpretable displays.��
Introductory statistics course is recommended.

50:163:480 Service Learning in Childhood Studies I (3) This advanced course enables students to work directly with organizations and institutions that assist Camden's children and youth.� It consists of both classroom time and a service component in which students, under the supervision of their instructor, will volunteer within the Camden community. Although the focus of each service learning course will be children and childhood, the specific topic and service assignment of the course will rotate.

50:163:481 Senior Seminar (3) This course serves as the capstone course for the childhood studies major and is open to graduating seniors (in their last semester of coursework) only.� Students apply the skills acquired through the interdisciplinary study of children and childhoods to the analysis of a topic selected by the instructor. A major paper is required. Prerequisite: 50:163:101.

50:163:491 Service Learning in Childhood Studies II (3) This advanced course enables students to work directly with organizations and institutions that assist Camden's children and youth.� It consists of both classroom time and a service component in which students, under the supervision of their instructor, will volunteer within the Camden community. Although the focus of each service learning course will be children and childhood, the specific topic and service assignment of the course will rotate.

50:163:495 Advanced Research (3) This course enables students to conduct original research about children under the direction of a faculty member. Students interested in enrolling in Advanced Research must conceive of a project and approach a faculty member as a potential supervisor early in the semester prior to the one in which the research would be undertaken. Some projects may require review by the Rutgers Institutional Review Board.
Prerequisite: By permission only. May be repeated for credit.