Comparative Family and Childhood Studies: Social Class, Race and Gender

Social Sciences & International Politics Program
Grenoble, France

Dates: early Jan 2026 - late May 2026

Social Sciences & International Politics

Comparative Family and Childhood Studies: Social Class, Race and Gender

Comparative Family and Childhood Studies: Social Class, Race and Gender Course Overview

OVERVIEW

CEA CAPA Partner Institution: Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA
Location: , FRANCE
Primary Subject Area: Sociology
Instruction in: English
Transcript Source: Partner Institution
Course Details: Level 300
Recommended Semester Credits: 2.5
Contact Hours: 38

DESCRIPTION

This course examines contemporary childhood by studying how children live and grow up in different social contexts. How do social class, race and gender shape the lives of children in different societies? How do children perceive the social world? What resources are children equipped with at home and at school? What methods are used to study the social worlds that children live in and how do these methods help us better understand these social contexts, their similarities, and their inequalities? How do these specific childhood experiences affect the future of children and their interactions in the social world?

We will focus on studying children and teenagers, their interactions with other social actors such as parents, siblings and peers, and their interactions with institutions such as school.

The course is divided into multiple themes. We will first explore childhood as a historically constructed category and as a subject that has been most traditionally studied by psychologists and other researchers who focus on child development. But what do the social sciences have to say about childhood? We will examine the different methods used (ethnographies, interviews, and statistics) and will discuss various research topics (language socialization, education, family life, culture).

Each class will focus on one or two research article(s) related to each theme. Students will have access to the texts in advance and are expected to read the texts before class. Students will be divided into groups to present the texts and lead class discussions.

Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course. CEA CAPA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA (2 ECTS credits equals 1 U.S. credit therefore, 5 ECTS credits is equivalent to 2.5 U.S. credits).


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