Multiple Childhoods/ Multidisciplinary Perspectives: Interrogating Normativity in Childhood Studies. May 19-21, Philadelphia.

Graduate Student Forum: Charting the Course

After the Exploring Childhood Studies Conference (2010), the graduate students of the Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, were energized by the enthusiastic interest in our growing field, but also impressed by the need and desire for more venues of communication across disciplines to explore and interrogate Childhood(s) and Childhood Studies. Our search for such interactions is ongoing. The Multiple Childhoods/Multidisciplinary Perspectives Conference (MC/MP) http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/multiple-childhoods/ is an opportune space for once again engaging and advancing this dialogue amongst graduate students from diverse disciplines joined in an interest in one overarching field of Childhood Studies.
In this spirit, we are pleased to host and solicit participants for a Graduate Student Forum at the MC/MP Conference. This event will also be an opportunity for emerging scholars in this growing field to reach across disciplinary divides, share experiences, discuss their research, and get a better sense not only of where the field of Childhood Studies is going but of the people who will be taking it there.
The Forum will address the themes outlined below, emerging from the main conference, in a roundtable format.

--Doing multidisciplinary studies--how, why, perils, pitfalls and rewards.
--Exploring Childhood Studies--an ongoing discussion, what is this new field, where does it come from, what does it entail now, and where are we as emerging scholars going to take it.
--Interrogating “the child” -- who is a child? when is a child? age, development, society, culture?
--other topics you care to propose related to the overall theme of Multiple Childhoods/ Multidisciplinary Perspectives: Interrogating Normativity in Childhood Studies

To participate, please submit a statement on any one of the above themes, no longer than two double spaced pages to Martin Woodside: mlwoodside@gmail.com with the subject line “Charting the Course” no later than  February 25, 2011.

The Forum will take place on May 19th. Forum participation will be limited to 40 people. However, the Forum will be followed by a less formal gathering of all graduate students attending MC/MP during happy hour at the Palomar Bar! And this will be immediately followed by the Conference opening reception, also at the Hotel Palomar.

We look forward to your interest. For any further questions please contact Anandini Dar (anandini@camden.rutgers.edu) or Patrick Cox (ptcox@camden.rutgers.edu).  

Graduate Student Forum Committee.