Course content

The course provides opportunities for students to explore the multiplicities of early childhood, promoting an understanding of early childhood as a social and cultural construction, and therefore specific to time and place. As part of this, the study will focus on the enormous cultural diversity in children's lived experiences, as well as on how local categories, notions, and values may influence parents and community members' perceptions and choices with respect to the caretaking of young children. The course will enable students to question some assumptions to what are "normal" and "natural" ways to see and understand young children. The course mainly covers studies from anthropological, qualitative research traditions.

Learning outcome

The main objective of this study is to provide students with a broad knowledge on early childhood in a cross-cultural and comparative perspective. Among the topics discussed are:
* Early childhood, family life and child rearing practices.
* Early childhood education and care; a culture-sensitive approach.
* Development, health and wellbeing.
* Play, oral tradition and aesthetical expressions.
* Young children and spirituality in a cross-cultural perspective, including religious and ritual practices.

Learning methods and activities

Total lecture hours: ca. 20 hours, total seminar hours: up to 12 hours. The course consists of: (1) A common introduction with lectures. (2) A seminar with presentation and discussion of the individual students' working papers. Students may choose between writing a working paper individually, or together with 1-2 fellow students. Each student will be required to comment on another student's working paper.

Compulsory assignments

• Approved working paper and oral presentation.

Recommended previous knowledge

See required previous knowledge.

Required previous knowledge

Admittance to the course requires a bachelor’s degree in a social science or humanities discipline, or equivalent.

Course materials

Information will be given at the beginning of the semester.