Geography 496/596
Topic Schedule and Reading List -- 2005
Introduction: Aug. 31, Sept. 7
8/31: Introduction to the course, what is ‘children’s urban geography’, how will we operate, etc. Overview of the ChUG project from 2002-2005. Report on ChildStreet 2005 conference/workshop in Delft, Holland last week.
9/7:
Holloway and Valentine, 2000 "Children's Geographies and the new social studies of childhood", Ch. 1 of Children's Geographies: Playing, Living, Learning.
Aitken, 1994 "From the Bottom Up: A rationale for children's geographies", Ch. 1 in Putting Children in their Place. (Handout)
Christensen and O'Brien, 2003 "Children in the City", Ch. 1 of Children in the City: Home, Neighborhood, and Community.
Chawla, 2002 "Cities for Human Development", Ch. 1 of Growing up in an urbanising world. (Handout)
The Social Construction of Childhood: Sept. 14
Aitken, S. 2000. “Play, rights, and borders: gender-bound parents and the social construction of children” in Children’s Geographies, Holloway and Valentine, pp. 119-138.
Jones, O. 2000. “Melting geography: purity, disorder, childhood and space”. In Children’s Geographies, Holloway & Valentine, pp. 29-47.
Valentine, Gill. 1996. “Angels and devils: moral landscapes of childhood.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 14: 581-599 (on-line reserve)
Qualitative Research Methods & Working with Children in Research
Sept. 21, 28
9/ 21:
Caputo, V. 1995. “Anthropology’s Silent ‘Others’: A Consideration of Some Conceptual and Methodological Issues for the Study of Youth and Children’s Cultures.” in V. Amit-Talai and H. Wulff (eds). Youth Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, pp. 19-42. London: Routledge. (on-line reserve)
Fine, G.A. and K.L. Sandstrom. 1988. Knowing children: participant observation with minors. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Chapter 1: “Researchers and Kids” (on-line reserve)
Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995. “In the field: participating, observing and jotting notes” in Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Chapter 2. (hand-out)
Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995. “Writing up fieldnotes: from field to desk” in Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Chapter 3. (on-line reserve)
9/28:
Hart, R. 2002. “Organizational Principles” in Children’s Participation: Involving Young Citizens in Community Development and Environmental Care, UNICEF, Chapter 3. (on-line reserve).
O’Kane, Claire. 2000. “The development of participatory techniques: Facilitating Children’s Views about Decisions that Affect Them”, in Christensen, P. and James, A. Research with Children: Perspectives and Practices, Routledge, Chapter 7.
Hart, R. 2002. “Mapping and Modelling” in Children’s Participation: Involving Young Citizens in Community Development and Environmental Care, UNICEF, Chapter 12. (Handout).
Punch, Samantha. 2001. “Multiple methods and research relations with children in rural Bolivia.” in Melanie Limb and Claire Dwyer. Eds. Qualitative Methodologies for Geographers: Issues and Debates. London: Arnold. Pp. 165-180. (on-line reserve)
10/5: Readings selected by class participants from Christensen and James (2003)
Friday, Oct. 7 – Due by 4:00 pm through the Digital Drop Box
Essay 1: What is child-centered research? Discuss at least 3 strategies for moving away from adult-led research with children and moving toward child-directed work. What are your own thoughts on this issue and where do you see challenges for you personally in this approach?
Children and Cities I: Urban Spaces and Places
Oct. 12 Note: class will end at 5:50 in honor of Yom Kippur
Breitbart, M. 1998. “‘Dana’s Mystical Tunnel’: Young People’s Designs for Survival and Change in the City.” In Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures. Tracy Skelton and Gill Valentine (eds.). London, New York: Routledge. pp.305-327. (on-line reserve).
Chawla, L. and K. Malone, 2003. “Neighborhood quality in children’s eyes” in Children in the City, Chapter 8.
Cosco, N. and Moore, R. 2002. “Our Neighborhood is Like That!” in Growing Up in an Urbanizing World, Chapter 2 (pdf on UBlearns).
Children and Cities II: Neighborhoods
Oct. 19
Rasmussen and Smidt, 2003. “Children in the Neighborhood, the neighborhood in the children” in Children in the City, Chapter 6.
O’Brien, M. 2003. “Regenerating children’s neighborhoods: what do children want?” in Children in the City, Chapter 9.
Baldassari, C., Lehman, S, and Wolfe, M. 1987. “Imaging and Creating Alternative Environments with Children”, in Weinstein, C. and T. David (eds.) Spaces for Children: The built environment and child development, NY: Plenum Press, Chapter 11. (on-line reserve)
Children and Cities III: Public Space and the Rights of Children & Youth
Oct. 26
Valentine, G. 1997. “Oh, yes I can, Oh, no you can’t: Children’s and parents’ understanding of kids’ competence to negotiate public space safely”, Antipode, Vol. 29, pp. 65-89. (on-line reserve)
Matthews, H., M. Limb, and M. Taylor, 2000. “The ‘street as thirdspace’”, in Children’s Geographies, Chapter 4.
Collins, D. and R. Kearns, 2001. “Under curfew and under siege? Legal geographies of young people” Geoforum, Vol. 32, pp. 389-403. (on-line reserve)
Valentine, G., S. Holloway, and N. Bingham, 2000. “Transforming cyberspace: children’s interventions in the new public sphere” in Children’s Geographies, Chapter 9.
*This selection may change or have additions.
Local-Global Connections: reading in children’s perspectives on ‘development’
Nov. 9 & 16
Growing Up Global – chapters to be decided by group
Friday, Nov. 18 – Due by 4:00 pm through the Digital Drop Box
Essay 2: If we accept that children and youth are (at least) citizens-in-training, how might the spaces and social arrangements of cities be more conducive to fostering civic, economic, environmental, and cultural inclusion of children and youth? In effect, what would it mean to be a ‘child-friendly city’?
Nov. 30: Spillover day
Dec. 7: Presentations of Projects