HIST 3320: The History of Childhood

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 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

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 .

Other useful links and academic journals to explore:

• 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.

• 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, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This course website contains copyrighted materials available only for your personal, noncommercial educational and scholarly use. This site is used in accordance with the fair use provision, Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act where allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Every effort has been made to provide attribution of copyrighted content. If you wish to use any copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain expressed permission from the copyright owner. If you are the owner of any copyrighted material that appears on this site and believe the use of any such material does not constitute "fair use", please contact Professor Swapna Banerjee to have the content removed, if proven necessary.

This open educational resource was created as part of the CUNY and SUNY 2017-19 Open Educational Resources Initiatives. Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature awarded CUNY and SUNY $16 million to implement open educational resources to develop, enhance and institutionalize new and ongoing open educational resources across both universities.

Special thanks to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs, the CUNY Office of Library Services, Brooklyn College Administration and Professor Frans Albarillo, Coordinator, Brooklyn College Open Educational Resources Initiative. Site design and formatting by Emily Fairey, OER Developer.