AP/CCY 3692 6.00

Representations of Children’s Alterity

This third-year seminar takes a cultural studies, visual culture approach to learning about representation, young people and difference. The course’s starting point acknowledges that even the terms “child” and “youth” are representations that obscure embodied, sexed and gendered differences. The course has two main focuses: first, it looks at how young people are represented by adults, and how they represent themselves in painting and photography; second, it looks at a variety of ethnographic visual culture methods used in research on and with young people. In this way the course sees research and scholarship as forms of representation.

Assignments develop visual literacy skills through “reading” and textually analyzing visual texts. This course develops academic skills in research design, carrying out, and writing up of a visual culture ethnographic project with a peer. Weekly participation exercises hone skills in reading theoretical and abstract texts, reflection, application of theory to practice, collaboration, public speaking and leadership.