This course will:

• explore concepts, theories, and empirical research in the sociology of childhood;
• provide a sophisticated understanding of the problems that children face and what might be done to solve them; and
• anchor one's understanding of childhood in the larger theoretical, conceptual, and methodological background of sociology.

We will pursue these course goals by concentrating on the following broad themes:

• social structure and its consequences for children's lives;
• children's agency; and
• the diversity of childhood experiences.

We will examine how the circumstances, meanings, and representations of childhood differ across cultures and centuries because time and place shape the texture of children's lives.

Another major goal of this course is to spark students' virtual imaginations by expanding their skills in the technology of the World Wide Web. Working together in groups, students will design web sites that present their research findings on children's lives in a visually appealing way.

No prerequisites are required: the professor assumes that most students in this course have had minimal exposure to the World Wide Web or to sociology as a discipline. Thus, the orientation of this course is most suitable for students in their first or second year of college.

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