This programme prepares students for work with issues related to children, adolescents, parents and families in governmental and non-governmental, local and international organisations. Students will also be qualified to undertake postgraduate studies in child studies and related fields.
Children’s lives and experiences in the global context of contemporary childhood are changing rapidly. So are ideals of childhood, parenthood and the family. Students on the interdisciplinary master’s programme in Child Studies will learn to understand the diversity of children’s lives and to recognise and critically scrutinise, analyse and discuss political, cultural and scientific statements and assertions about children and childhood. An overview of the interdisciplinary field of child studies gives students an understanding of the differences between various theories of childhood, and their implications for images of children and childhood. In addition to theories of childhood, the following areas will be addressed:
- Childhood, Institutions and Welfare State Models
- Gender, Body and Sexuality
- Children’s Rights
- Children, Culture and the Media
Students also carry out a research study. In collaboration with an individually appointed advisor, they frame a research question and design an empirically based research study. They learn to recognise the differences between various research methods in two courses, and gain proficiency in one of them by collecting and analysing data for a study.
Students and teachersStudents on this programme live in many different countries and on-line discussions are international and lively. Students are taught by scholars at the Department of Child Studies which gives them access to frontline research in a range of disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, history, cultural and communication studies and social work. There is a limited number of places and a high student-teacher ratio.
