RCIDIV 351 001 WN 2019

Girl with doll .jpg

Winter 2019 Mini-Course
RCIDIV 351 Residential College EQ 1423
M/W 6:30-8pm (Goodenough) 2 credits

This half-semester mini-course in interdisciplinary children's studies examines displacement in early life. The seminar analyzes diverse perspectives in representation and understanding--from ancient archetypes and myths to contemporary film and global media. We welcome visiting experts and eclectic, even eccentric approaches, to stories of youth suffering from displacement, family separation, war, and its aftermath. During an era of world focus on child refugees, we look at hardships — food scarcity, homelessness, illness — in historical narratives and current stories unfolding. How does loss of home, terror and turmoil, force the next generation to fend for itself in undocumented, illegal, or unconventional ways? What hidden coping strategies have adolescents exercised and adults portrayed as survival skills?

The Residential College offers this mini seminar in response to recent events. We hope that a venue for discussion enables the community to grapple with the implications of displaced children and to respond in a compassionate and forward-thinking manner to stories of trauma in the making. The course will meet on Monday and Wednesday nights starting Wednesday, January 9, until February 27, 2019.