INQ-120 | The Meaning of Childhood

Full Title: The Meaning of Childhood

Topic Description:

This course explores how ideas about childhood play a role in the ways we conceive of the good life. Both philosophers and religious traditions articulate ideas about children as they define the moral life. We will also survey the history of children and discover how different periods have constructed their own notions about the nature of children. Children’s literature plays a role in this history as well, and we will examine numerous genres to see how writers have projected distinct ideas about the nature and purpose of childhood. The class will consider questions such as, what are religious and philosophical traditions’ core beliefs about the nature of childhood? Do children have unique spiritual gifts or capacities, or are they crucially lacking in what the traditions hold most important? How do children’s books model childhood?

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: December 2011