Anthropology of childhood and children

Duration

30h Th, 30h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Elodie Razy

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The anthropology of childhood and children is constructed in different ways according to academic traditions (EU, Great Britain, France, Germany, etc.). New emerging currents, particularly in Latin America, have been involved in the short history of this developing field. We will look at this by focussing on different themes and/or approaches (social and symbolic construction of the child, status of children, child development, daily life, marginalised children, the concept of the 'child-actor', childlike cultures, concepts of "agency", the position of the child in the life-cycle, etc.) in light of work conducted in different societies both in the South and in the North.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Students will acquire a good historical knowledge of this developing field and the reasons for different developments in the EU, Great Britain and France as well as emerging trends. They will understand, through the examples studied in class, as well as conferences and readings, how to develop an anthropological position in the field of Childhood. They will also be able to do ethnographic fieldwork, to reconstruct and analyse ethnographical data produced during fieldwork with the theoretical tools of the anthropology of childhood.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

None.
The course will start with an introduction to the anthropological approach.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Class, conferences, videos, students' accounts, discussions and debates, readings, ethnographic fieldwork (30 h).
I warmly recommend that the students read the compulsory book (Godelier, M. 2004 "Au fondement des Sociétés humaines. Ce que nous appren l'anthropologie, Paris: Albin Michel) before or from the beginning lesson.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Lectures. The course will take place in the first term.

Recommended or required readings

Course material: a book, texts, conferences, films, etc. Students will be obliged to read publications.

Assessment methods and criteria

Students will conduct practical exercises (questions, ethic situation) and write a final report based on their ethnographic filedwork and readings (instructions, assessment methods and criteria about these exercises will be given on MyULg and explained in class).

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Compulsory sessions with a student will be organized.

Contacts

I meet with students by appointment
Office 2.36 (B31)

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