HIST 3320: The History of Childhood
Instructor Information
Instructor: Professor Swapna Banerjee 
Office Address: 1127B Boylan Hall
Fall 2024 Office Hours:Thursday, 3:45-4:45 pm & By appointment
Email WITHOUT attachments: banerjee@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Email WITH attachments: BanerjeeClasses2020@gmail.com
Note on e-mail correspondence:
- Check your email and BlackBoard announcements daily.
- For messages without attachments, send e-mail to: banerjee@brooklyn.cuny.edu
- For messages with attachments, send e-mail to: BanerjeeClasses2020@gmail.com
- E-mail me only for course-related matters and keep it short. Always think before you write to me.
- I will not answer unnecessary e-mails regarding questions that are addressed in the syllabus.
- I will NOT answer e-mails during weekends. Allow 24-48 hours for my response to your mails, even on weekdays.
- Do NOT e-mail me for your petty illnesses or other reasons for missing classes.
- I will not discuss your big concerns with assignments, lectures, or readings over e-mail. For such concerns you must see me during my office hours and by appointment.
- ALWAYS put your <yourname> and the course number IN THE SUBJECT.
- Email is a FORMAL means of communication (at least when you correspond with your professors or employers, etc.). Let's treat each other with respect. Use capital letters, punctuation, greetings and salutations as in a professional message. Avoid abbreviations, slang, and cuteness.
- The use of magic words (please, thank you) and politeness in general is strongly encouraged.
- Sign every message at the bottom.
- Exchange phone numbers or email addresses with your classmates. If you happen to miss a class please do NOT ask me to summarize what we did or will do in class, or what the assignment is/was, UNLESS YOU HAVE SERIOUS REASONS. Email or text a classmate instead.
Course Information
Course Number and Name: HIST 3320: The History of Childhood
Semester: Fall 2024
Course Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 11am-12:15pm
Classroom: 3109 Boylan Hall
Instructor: Professor Swapna Banerjee
Weekly Schedule Fall 2024
Discussion Questions Fall 2024
- HIST 3320 Discussion Questions Fall 2024HIST 3320 Discussion Questions Fall 2024 Banerjee
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Course Textbook and Readings
This course is a zero cost/open educational resources course. That means there is no textbook students need to purchase. All materials are available freely to students online on the HIST 3320 The History of Childhood OER site (what you are on right now) and Blackboard 
.
Childhood in World History by ISBN: 1317201132Publication Date: 2016-07-01Taking a global look at what the category of childhood has meant from agricultural societies to the present day, Childhood in World History offers a vital overview of this topical field. Through comparative analysis, Peter Stearns facilitates a cross-cultural and transnational understanding of attitudes towards the role of children in society, and how "models" of childhood have developed throughout history. Engaging with issues around children's role in the family and the involvement of communal, national, educational, and global infrastructures, Stearns unpacks the experience of childhood in the West, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. This expanded and updated third edition includes: updated bibliographies and suggested readings expanded discussions of religion and children's rights a new chapter on families in developing economies in the early twentieth century broadened discussions of childhood in Japan and in communist countries. With expanded further reading lists, Stearns's accessible text not only provides an overview of its field but also offers a research guide for more specialized study. Concisely presented but broad in scope, Stearns's accessible text guides readers through the transformations of the concept of childhood.
Other useful links and academic journals to explore:
- Children and Youth in History Primary SourcesA collection of more than 300 primary sources on children and youth in world history.
Citation: Center for History and New Media.Children and Youth in History Primary Sources. The University of Missouri-Kansas City. (n.d) - Journal of the History of Childhood and YouthJournal of the History of Childhood and Youth. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- The Kids Aren’t All Right: Historians and the Problem of ChildhoodSarah Maza, The Kids Aren’t All Right: Historians and the Problem of Childhood, The American Historical Review, Volume 125, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 1261–1285.
Course Description
Course Objectives
- To make students aware that childhood is a social and cultural construction that changed over time; that it both converges with and differs from the contemporary notions of childhood.
- To make students understand that childhood is not universal: it is diverse and complex depending on the contexts and determined by class, caste, race, gender, religion, geography, time period, and politics, among other factors.
- To familiarize students with the historiographical debates surrounding the history of childhood.
- To read and analyze different kinds of primary sources (written documents; art forms; maps; music; film, space) and secondary literature to make connections between what is presented as “facts” and their interpretations.
- To enhance critical thinking, reading, and writing skills through reading and writing assignments.
Outcomes Anticipated from the Course
- Reveal an understanding that childhood is not a monolithic and unchanging category; that it is a historically constructed notion and an important subject of scholarly investigation.
- Demonstrate familiarity with the major trends in the history of childhood.
- Acquire adequate knowledge about why the history of childhood is crucial for an understanding of childhood and the development of world history.
- Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate and discuss primary and secondary sources for articulating an argument and draw a meaningful conclusion.
- Exhibit leadership role in the classroom by choosing to present on a topic identified from the syllabus, formulate discussion questions, and respond to questions from the audience.
Unless otherwise noted this Open Educational Resource (OER)HIST 3320: The History of Childhood was created and curated by Professor Swapna Banerjee and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. (Some documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader. )
Site design and formatting by Amy Wolfe, OER Developer (Brooklyn College) and Accessibility Librarian (CUNY Office of Library Services).
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