HIS 4203
Fall 2003
TR 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Harvey J. Graff
HSS 4.04.20
458-7353; hgraff@utsa.edu
Office hours: TR 2-3:00 p.m.& by appointment
Families in American History
Topic for Fall 2003
Growing Up in America
Did childhood exist in the past, or is it a modern invention? Are childhood (and children) and
adolescence (and adolescents), as we have known them, disappearing as some claim,? Are they
biological or "natural" and universal stages of human development, or at least in part the
products of society and culture and history? Do childhood and children have a future? How
different from today was growing up in the past? How did the young mature in past times, and
what relationships to current patterns does that past have?
This course asks a number of important questions about the changing experiences and meanings
of growing up--childhood, adolescence, youth, "coming of age." In contrast to most
contemporary views, it looks seriously at the past, at the history of growing up, as a comparison
to the present and as the specific context from which today's patterns and problems developed.
History thus provides a rich laboratory in which current notions about growing up--for example,
from psychology, anthropology, sociology, human developmental studies, the arts and letters,
and related areas--may be explored and tested. The relevance, usefulness, and accuracy of
theories that relate to growing up will be examined in historical context and probed over a broad
expanse of time.
A wide variety of sources, including films and novels and memoirs, and a number of different
research traditions and approaches are considered. In addition, we will evaluate family, child,
and youth policy as it has developed over time, and its functions today, and as it provides options
for tomorrow. A new, broad, rich, and interdisciplinary understanding of growing up and its
challenges is the course goal.
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Course Objectives
Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.
Gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual activity including some
of the ways in which historians study the past, from locating historical sources to making
historical interpretations—specifically, this semester, in the history of families in
America, with a focus on children, adolescents, and youth.
More generally: developing historical knowledge; historical understanding—history as a
way of thinking and interpreting; and historical perspective—history as a way of
understanding today and tomorrow, including ourselves, better. The course’s emphasis
falls on history as a mode of thought, a means of understanding, and a body of
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knowledge—and the learning and critical abilities that accompany that goal--not on
memorizing large numbers of “facts,” especially names and dates.
learning a wide range of skills, abilities, and strategies, and practice in using them;
introduction to and practice in using a variety of forms of analysis, interpretation, and
expression. This includes experience in dealing with different kinds of texts, including
visual materials and films as well as a range of primary and secondary materials,
specifically with respect to the history of families, children, adolescents, and youth.
practicing different forms of learning processes and practices
practicing critical thinking with special attention to the importance of historical
understanding and historical context (as one kind of learning)
gaining new information and understanding of U.S. (and European and world) history.
Requirements & Evaluation
Assignments include both individual and group activities. Some activities and assignments will
count toward the group portion of grades. Evaluation of fellow members of your group will also
figure in the final grades. We will form activity groups by the end of the first week of classes.
Attendance, preparation, participation, discussion group activities
25%
Attend regularly. Do each week’s required reading as early as possible each week. The
lectures, discussions (including group work), films, and the readings themselves will
inform each other and promote clearer, smoother, and better work, class sessions, and
grades—for all of us. You will also be ready for occasional quizzes on the reading.
Discussion and oral project groups are an important part of the work in this course. Groups will
be formed early in the semester. Discussion group work includes reviewing material;
discussing readings, films, lectures, and other questions; and preparing group oral
reports.
The classroom is not always the best physical environment for working in groups, but the
benefits are greater than the logistical problems we will work to resolve as easily as
possible.
"Reaction/evaluation" papers……………... …………………………………………….20%
Each class member will write 5 2-page "reaction/evaluation" papers at regular intervals, one
approximately every two weeks. In each paper, you will state your response to that
week’s required reading and/or film or other visual material.
These brief papers may take the form of or offer a combination of comments, questions,
criticisms, comparisons from week to week, or comparisons of two sources for a given
week (perhaps an article and a film, or a novel and an article or visual source). Each 2
-page paper should include one or more questions, intended to stimulate class discussion.
In evaluating these papers, I look for clarity, accurate references or restatements of the reading,
and the ways in which you attempt to make connections among readings and/or from
week-to-week in the course. Write them as part of an ongoing conversation with me and
with your classmates.
Schedule for submission: 3 in August-September, 2 in October-mid-November
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Group research and oral reports to the class
25%
Participation in a activity or learning group will include the preparation of an oral report for
presentation to the class before the end of the term. Oral reports will be based on library and
perhaps also electronic research.
Each report will aim to give historical and perhaps also conceptual or policy perspective to a
contemporary question or problem, for example, single-parent families, homeless families
or children, runaway or latchkey kids, family changes like divorce or remarriage, adolescent
sex or pregnancy, institutionalization, public policy, etc. The list is almost limitless.
Groups will be formed on the basis of common interests. Reports of approximinately 15-20
minutes will take place during final 3 weeks of the semester. Further instructions will be
provided. Class time will be provided for project work.
Groups. In general, groups will discuss reading and assignments; generate questions for class
discussion; brainstorm on projects; help to plan research; share sources and other “finds.”
I suggest that they also read and critique drafts of each other’s papers.
At the end of the semester, each student will evaluate all members of her or his group. You will
have the opportunity to distinguish between the contributions of different members of
your group who added more or less to the group’s work and performance.
Growing up: American’s lives papers…………………………………. …………………30%
Each student will write a 10-12-page paper, using course ideas and materials to interpret a set
of primary sources on growing up, selected from either materials on students' own
families if you have source materials that include more than 2 generations of your family,
or from such books as Eve Merriam, ed., Growing Up Female in America: Ten Lives;
Chris Mayfield, ed., Growing Up Southern; Hamilton Holt, ed., The Life Stories of
Undistinguished Americans as Told by Themselves; Mary Frosch, ed., Coming of Age in
America; or Harold Augenbraum and Ilan Stavans, eds., Growing Up Latino; Tiffany
Lopez, ed., Growing Up Chicana/o. Avon, 1995
Have a look at the books in the bookstores very soon, and select one as the basis for your paper.
Detailed information will be provided in class. Papers will be due at the final class meeting
Conduct of class sessions
During regular class meetings, we will take up a variety of activities and projects. These may
include taking quizzes, participating in exercises, screening films, exploring different
perspectives and skills, discussing assignments or assigned readings, listening to guest speakers,
presenting individual or group work, and related activities. Come to class on time, prepared for
the session by completing any assigned work or other preparation; bringing paper, pens, pencils,
and other items announced in preceding meetings or the syllabus.
Turning in assignments
All work that is turned in for evaluation or grading should be typed, usually double-spaced, with
margins of 1-1 ½ inches on all sides; printed in 12 point font, in a legible type face. Be sure that
your printer ribbon or toner allows you to produce clear copies. Follow page or word limits and
meet deadlines. No covers please. Follow any specific assignment requirements (formatting or
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endnotes or bibliography, for example). Your writing should be gender neutral as well as clear
and to the point. If you have a problem, see me, if at all possible, in advance of due dates.
Unacceptable work will be returned, ungraded, to you. There will be penalties for work
submitted late without excuse.
Grades
Final grades are based on each student’s performance on all required activities listed above.
Significant improvement in students’ work over the course of the semester will be rewarded.
Group work is a part of the course and its grade. Students will have an opportunity to evaluate
the contribution of the members of their group. Students should keep track of their scores and
their progress in the course. Because of confidentiality laws, neither the History Department
office nor I can report grades by email or telephone.
Attendance and missed exams, quizzes, etc.
Attendance is essential for successful participation in this course. Each student is responsible for
all material presented, discussions, and group activities. I will note absences. More than two or
three unexcused absences may lead to deductions from your grade. If you have an emergency or
are ill, contact me as soon as possible. Late assignments will be penalized five points for each
day late. If you wish to drop the course, you should contact me. I cannot drop students
automatically. Take note of UTSA deadlines and procedures. Please discuss with me as soon as
possible any problems you have with the course.
Civility
Mutual respect and cooperation, during the time we spend together each week and the time you
work on group assignments, are the basis for successful conduct of this course. The class is a
learning community that depends on respect, cooperation, and communication among all of us.
This includes coming to class on time, prepared for each day’s work: reading and assignments
completed, focusing on main classroom activity, and participating. This is even more important
on quiz and exam days. It also includes polite and respectful expression of agreement or
disagreement—with support for your point of view and arguments--with other students and with
the professor. It does not include arriving late or leaving early, or behavior or talking that
distracts other students. Please turn off all telephones, beepers, CD or MP3 players, and other
electronic devices. Please remove ear- or headphones.
Academic Honesty
Scholastic honesty is expected and required. It is a major part of university life, and contributes
to the value of your university degree. All work submitted for this class must be your own.
Copying or representing the work of anyone else (in print or from another student) is plagiarism
and cheating. This is unacceptable in this class and also prohibited by the University. The
minimum penalty will be an “F” for that assignment. Information on scholastic dishonesty,
including plagiarism, is provided in the Student Code of Conduct, Section 203 “Scholastic
Dishonesty.” The Undergraduate Catalogue offers this definition: “Scholastic dishonesty
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includes, but is not limited to: cheating on a test or other class work; plagiarism (the
appropriation of another’s work and the unauthorized incorporation of it in one’s own written
work offered for credit); and collusion (the authorized collaboration with another person in
preparing college work offered for credit.” When in doubt, consult the instructor.
I expect all students whose names appear on each group report and on group quizzes to have
contributed to the work that led to the preparation of that item.
Disabilities
To receive support services, students with disabilities must register with the Office of Disability
Services (MS 2.03.18; 458-4157-voice; 458-4981-TTY)
Department of History information
The department office is located in HSS 4.04.06 and is open M-F 8-5:00. Ms. Sherrie McDonald,
Administrative Assistant, and Dr. Wing Chung Ng, Chair, are available at 458-4033 or at
history@utsa.edu and will be happy to tell you more about the department’s programs and
answer questions. Ms. Sylvia Man sour (smansour@utsa.edu; 458-4900) is the undergraduate
student advisor, and Dr. Killeen Guy (kguy@utsa.edu; 458-4371; HSS 4.04.16) is the Graduate
Advisor of Record. The department website is at the following URL:
http://colfa.utsa.edu/colfa/HIST/home. HTM
Note: All dates and related matters in syllabus are subject to change
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Books ordered for University Bookstore (all paperbound)
(Note when there is a choice of books)
Everyone:
N. Ray Hiner and Joseph M. Hawes, eds., Growing Up in America: Children in Historical
Perspective. Univ. of Illinois, 1985
Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers. Persea, 1975 [1925]
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. [1951]
W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson, Broken Promises: How Americans Fail
Their Children. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1988 [1982] (used copies if available)
Choose one of each grouping:
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life. . . an American Slave. New American
Library, 1968 [1845] OR
Lucy Larcom, A New England Girlhood. Northeastern U.P., 1986 [1889]
Edward Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster. Indiana U.P., 1984 [1871] OR
Stephen Crane, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets. Fawcett, 1960 [1893]
Richard Wright, Black Boy. Perennial Classic, 1966 [1937] OR
E.L. Doctorow, World's Fair. Random House, 1985 OR
Americo Paredes, George Washington Gomez. Arte Publico, 1990
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street. Vintage, 1991 [1984] OR
Alix Kates Shulman, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. Bantam, 1973
For essays (choose one):
Eve Merriam, ed., Growing Up in Female in America: Ten Lives. Beacon, 1987
[1971]
Chris Mayfield, ed., Growing Up Southern: Southern Exposure Looks at Childhood
Then and Now. Pantheon, 1981 [This book is out of print; copies are
available at used book stores]
Hamilton Holt, ed., The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans as Told by
Themselves, ed. Werner Sollers. Routledge, 1990 [1906]
Mary Frosch, ed., Coming of Age in America: A Multicultural Anthology. New
Press, 1994
Harold Augenbraum and and Ilan Stavans, eds., Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and
Stories. Houghton Mifflin, 1993
Tiffany Lopez, ed., Growing Up Chicana/o. Avon, 1995
* Library Reserve
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HIS 4203
Fall, 2003
Harvey J. Graff
Growing Up in America: Past, Present, Future
Syllabus
Week 1. (8/26 & 28) Introduction: Questions, Issues, Approaches
Read for Weeks 1-2:
*Alan Prout and Allison James, “A New Paradigm for the Sociology of Childhood?” in
Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the
Sociological Study of Childhood, ed. James and Prout (Falmer, 1990), 7-34
*Rayna Rapp, Ellen Ross, and Renate Bridenthal, “Examining Family History,”
Feminist Studies 5 (1979) 174-200
*Mary P Ryan, “The Explosion of Family History,” Reviews in American History, 10
(1982), 181-195
*Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalga
Trap. Basic 1991, Introduction, 1-22
Film: "Lord of the Flies" (90)
Week 2. (9/2 & 4) European Traditions, American Origins: Early Paths of Growing Up
Read: see Week 1; and
*Keith Thomas, "Children in Early Modern England," in Children and their Books,
ed. Gillian Avery and Julia Briggs (Oxford Univ. Press, 1989), 45-77
articles listed in Week 1
Film: "The Return of Martin Guerre" (111)
Week 3. (9/9 & 11) Seventeenth-Century Beginnings of Growing Up in America: Change
and Continuity, Variations on Themes
Read: N. Ray Hiner and Joseph M. Hawes, eds., Growing Up in America: Children in
Historical Perspective [H&H] (Univ. of Illinois, 1985), 1, 2, 3 (Beales, Slater, D.B.
Smith)
Week 4. (9/16 & 18) Eighteenth-Century Transitions: Rebellions Over the Land
Read: H&H 2,3 (Slater, D.B. Smith)
Film: "The Wild Child" (85)
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Week 5. (9/23& 25) Diversity and Early Transformations: Commercialization, Migration,
Urbanization. Family Change and Growing Up Change, c. 1780s-1840s
Read: H&H, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 (Wells, McLoughlin, Gilje, Wiggins, Scott)
and choose one of:
Frederick Douglass, Autobiography or
Lucy Larcom, A New England Girlhood
Films from the American Social History Project: "Daughters of Free Men," "The Five
Points," "Doing All They Can" (75)
Week 6. (9/30 & 10/2) Early Modernity: Remaking Growing Up in Nineteenth-Century
America
Read: H&H, 5, 7 (McLoughlin, Rodgers)
Douglass or Larcom
Film: "The Molders of Troy" (90)
Week 7. (10/7 & 9) Slouching toward the Modern Ways: Contradictions and Irregularity in the Transformations toward Modern Paths of Growing Up.
Race, Sex/Gender, Social Class, Ethnicity, Geography
Read: H&H, 8, 9, 12 (Clement, Campbell, Szasz)
and choose one of:
Edward Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster OR
Stephen Crane, Maggie, Girl of the Streets
Slides from Canada's Visual Past series
Week 8. (10/14 & 16) Change and Continuity: The Incomplete Revolution Among the
Young. Policy, Institutions, the State, and the Family
Read: H&H, 8, 9, 12 (Clement, Campbell, Szasz)
Week 9. (10/21 & 23) Turning the Century: A Progressive Synthesis? Reforming the
Young (Again?)
Read: H&H, 8, 9, 12 (Clement, Campbell, Szasz)
Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers
Film: "My Brilliant Career"
(101)
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Oct. 24
Last day to drop course or withdraw with automatic grade of “W”
Week 10. (10/28 & 30) Twentieth-Century Transitions I c. 1900s-1940s
Read: H&H, 14, 16 (Williams, Uhlenberg, Clark)
and choose one of:
Richard Wright, Black Boy or
E.L. Doctorow, World's Fair or
Americo Parades, George Washington Gomez
Film: "Rebel Without a Cause" (111)
Week 11. (11/4 & 6) Twentieth-Century Transitions II c. 1940s-1960s
Read: H&H, 13, 14, 15, 16 17 (Williams, Uhlenberg, Finkelstein, Clark, Weiss)
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Film: "High School" (75)
Week 12. (11/11 & 13) Boom! Boom! Baby Boomers! Radical Youth, Conformist Youth
Read: H&H, 17 (Weiss)
and choose one of:
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street or
Alix Kates Shulman, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. Bantam, 1973
optional: *Vicki Ruiz, "'Star Struck': Acculturation, Adolescence, and the Mexican
American Woman, 1920-1950," in Building With Our Own Hands: New Directions
in Chicana Studies, ed. Adela de la Torre and Beatriz M. Pesquera (University of
California Press, 1993), 109-129,
*Ruiz, "Oral History and La Mujer: The Rosa Gerrero Story," in Women on the U.S.Mexico Border: Responses to Change, ed. Ruiz and Susan Tiano (Allen & Unwin,
1987), 219-231
group oral reports
Film: "Street Wise" (92) & “Dirty Laundry” (15)
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Week 13. (11/18 & 20) All Fall Down? The Rise and Fall of the Cult of Childhood
and Adolescence
Read:
*Gary Alan Fine and Jay Mechling, “Minor Difficulties: Changing Children in the Late
Twentieth Century,” in America at Century’s End, ed. Alan Wolfe (California,
1991), 58-78
*Robert L. Hampel, “A Generation in Crisis?” Daedalus 127, 4 (Fall 1998) 67-88
*Sherry B. Ortner, “Generation X: Anthropology in a Media-Saturated World,” in Critical
Anthropology Now, ed. George E Marcus (School of American Research Press,
1999) 55-87
group oral reports
Film: “Switchblade Sisters” (90)
Week 14. (11/25 &12/2) Today?/Tomorrow? Is There a Future for Growing Up in the
Age of "the childlike adult and the adultlike child"? Yesterday,
Today, Tomorrow
Read: *W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson, Broken Promises: How Americans Fail
Their Children, esp. Part I
Optional: *Andrew J. Cherlin, ed., The Changing American Family and Public Policy
(Urban Institute, 1988)
*Gary Alan Fine and Jay Mechling, “Minor Difficulties: Changing Children in the Late
Twentieth Century,” in America at Century’s End, ed. Alan Wolfe (California,
1991), 58-78
*Robert L. Hampel, “A Generation in Crisis?” Daedalus 127, 4 (Fall 1998) 67-88
group oral reports
Film: "Heathers" (102)
Final essays due at last class
*Library Reserve reading
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HIS 4203
Harvey J. Graff
Growing Up in America
Assignments
As noted in the syllabus, in addition to preparation and participation in class sessions, there are
three other formal course requirements: "reactions/evaluation" papers (5); group research-oral
reports; and an essay. This handout provides further information on them.
"Reaction/Evaluation" papers: 3 1-2 page papers due in August-September, 2 due in Octobermid-November, for a total of 5 papers that present your response to that week’s required reading
and/or film or other visual material. These brief commentaries are, more or less, informed
conversations with me and your classmates. They may take the form of, or offer a combination
of comments, questions, criticisms, comparisons from week to week, or comparisons of two
sources for a given week (perhaps an article and a film, or a novel and an article or visual
source). Each 2-page paper should include one or more questions, intended to stimulate class
discussion.
Each paper should focus on one topic and one or more readings or films from one week (and for
comparisons, preceding weeks’ reading, visual material, or discussion). Present, clearly and to
the point, your intellectual response to the topic and the reading and/or visual material related to
it for the week you have chosen. You may offer constructive criticism, further ideas or
reflections, questions, connections to other aspects of the course or other courses or your own
experience. Do not make this task more difficult than it needs to be--it should not occupy a great
deal of your time. Keeping up with reading and class work make this kind of writing much
easier!
In evaluating these papers, I will look for clarity, accurate references or restatements of the
reading, and the ways in which you attempt to make connections among readings and/or from
week-to-week in the course.
Group research/oral reports: During the early weeks of the semester, and following your own
interests, we will form groups of 3 or 4 members. All groups will focus on one subject of their
choice among the many significant aspects of growing up--childhood, adolescence, youth--that
attract attention today. These may range from daycare, latchkey children, child and family abuse,
to teen suicide, adolescent pregnancy, one-parent families and single mothers, gifted youth, etc.
There is no limit to the topics. In accordance with your own interests, you will join a group
whose purpose is to research the topic historically, that is, to provide necessary perspectives on
today's discussions through longer-term views, comparisons, background, alternative
formulations or viewpoints, etc. Each group will ask: what difference(s) does a historical
perspective make? A moderate (but not excessive) amount of library research is expected; the
instructor will provide bibliographic and other advice and some class time will be allocated for
group work. During the final 3 weeks of the semester, each group will report orally (approx. 1520 minutes) the results of its research and respond to questions from the class. A plan of work,
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activity log, bibliography of sources, outline of the presentation, and evaluation are due at the
time of the report.
Note: the number and size of the groups depend in part on the size of the class. Additional
information will be provided in class.]
Essays: due at the end of the semester--at the time of last class session--are essays of approx. 10
pages with footnotes and bibliography as needed [prepared according to an accepted academic
style sheet: Turabian or University of Chicago, APA, for example].. Papers may take one of two
forms.
Using one of the collections of life histories available in the bookstore (Growing Up Female;
Growing Up Southern; The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans; Coming of Age in
America; Growing Up Latino; Growing Up Chicana/o), as your research material, write an essay
on those aspects of the history of growing up that these first-person sources open to your reading,
questions, and interpretation. These may take the form of comparisons across time and space;
change and/or continuity over time; comparisons across persons growing up at more or less the
same historical moment or different moments, among a wide range of possible topics, issues, and
questions. That choice is yours to make. You are expected to use the ideas, concepts,
interpretations, approaches, methods, materials, etc., presented and discussed in the course (from
readings, films, discussion, lectures) in forming your own approach to discussing and
interpreting the primary sources collected in each of the anthologies. Consider them to be your
primary archive; without them, your task would be much more difficult.
The second option is writing a history of growing up in your own family history. To select this
option, you will need the approval of the instructor. Doing such a project depends on the
availability of research materials for your use (including oral history/interview material that you
collect yourself) at least part of which are written and preserved. It also requires information on
at least two or more generations ending with your own (if you wish). As with the other option,
the choice of topics, issues, questions, etc., is yours and you are expected to use course materials
and ideas in developing the project.
In working toward your paper, each of you will: 1) define the topic, develop questions and
approaches; 2) plan your overall work, divide it into specific tasks, and allocate your time and
labor; 3) identify relevant and appropriate primary and secondary sources and evaluate their
usefulness and their limits; 4) conduct library, archival, field research if necessary; 5) study the
evidence gathered in relationship to your questions, conception and plan of research, and
expectations about what you are likely to discover (and why); 6) make conclusions on the basis
of your analysis of the evidence in with respect to the questions and problems with which you
began and as they change as you do your work.
Each paper should have an introduction and a conclusion; endnotes as necessary; bibliography of
sources; tables or illustrations if needed or useful.
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Note: 1)plagiarism results in failure; 2)please use non-sexist, gender-neutral language (in
discussions and reports, too); 3)staple papers in the upper-left corner before turning them in. No
folders or covers, no fancy cover sheets. Indicate on the top of the first page your name and
section. Number each page; 4) papers should be double-spaced, with normal 1-1½ inch margins,
and printed in 12 point font; 5)be sure the ribbon or toner of your printer is relatively new and
the printed copy is legible; otherwise the paper will be returned to you unread and ungraded; 6)if
you need special assistance, in addition to the instructor, there is the university's writing lab and
many reference and guide materials; 7)if you would like your paper to be returned at the end of
the semester, please provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope when you turn in your final
essay.
Good Luck!!!
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HIS 4203
Harvey J. Graff
Growing Up in America
Group Oral Reports
Goal and Focus: To ask and begin to answer "the question of history." Through library and
perhaps electronic research (and course materials as relevant), each group of 3-4 students will
ask: how does our view and understanding of the topic we have selected (say, teenage
pregnancy, high schools, single parents) change when we examine it through the perspective of
history? Does a longer time span change the way we see matters? Are today's issues longstanding ones or new concerns, with or without precedents? What alternative views are possible?
and related questions. Various possible answers to such questions can be developed through a
careful but not overly-long search in library sources. We are not seeking either complete or final
responses but rather tentative ones and "working" ideas.
The groups: During the early weeks of the semester, class members will generate a list of topics
of possible interest and then form groups (3-4 students per group) to work on them.
Each group will:
--develop a plan to research and bring together the results of that research in the form of a 15-20
minute oral report to the class (or a part of the class);
--central to the plan is defining, focussing, and narrowing the topic into a manageable issue or set
of issues, and dividing the labor of group members for its study. For most topics, groups will
need to be selective, and not attempt to cover their subjects in either too much breadth or depth.
Group efforts should aim to strike a balance;
--the instructor will provide "starter" historical references, and will be available for consultation
and advice as requested;
--when possible, class time will be allocated for project work;
--group planning will aim at defining the general topic and then dividing it into a selection of
major elements or subtopics that individual members can research in the UTSA or other libraries,
and then integrate the results of that research into a coherent oral presentation;
--groups should consult reference librarians for help in identifying appropriate and useful
historical and contemporary source materials
--a wide range of research materials is available, although specific sources will vary from topic
to topic and focus to focus. Among the usual kinds of materials that prove helpful are:
government reports, often with a statistic or numerical basis; articles in academic journals and
periodicals; reports in major newspapers and magazines; book-length studies including case
studies of specific places, times, or groups; anthologies or collections of studies on a specific
topic; reports of various social service and volunteer groups. Some groups have interviewed
persons engaged in relevant activities and professional experts in the San Antonio metropolitan
area. There are many other possible sources too. Use the on-line catalogue of UTSA and San
Antonio-area library holdings, and search there and in relevant indexes and databases for your
topic and its related elements. Exercise caution in Internet searches: all website are not created
equal or trustworthy. Ask reference librarian to help you find relevant guides, indexes, and
databases;
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--keep in mind that your goal is to locate and sample a range of relevant information and points
of views that helps you to survey selectively your topic and allows the kind of interim or
tentative findings and conclusions suitable for a brief presentation to the class. No complete, exhaustive, or final conclusions are expected, or are even possible. Brief reports that focus
relatively closely and clearly on major issues are the target.
Groups needing copies of handouts to be duplicated and/or audio/visual equipment for their
presentations should coordinate with the instructor 1-2 weeks in advance of the time of their
presentation
At the time of presentation, each group will turn in one copy of:
--their plan of work, including the division of labor and definition of the topics and their tasks in
dealing with it;
--a bibliography of the reference sources (primary and secondary) that they have consulted
(length by itself is no virtue);
--a log that outlines each member's work on the project: tasks done and time spent on them--what
was accomplished, when and where work done, etc. (no more than 1-2 pages);
--a general outline of the oral presentation (1 page);
--an anecdotal evaluation of the group's work with a recommendation for the group's grade for
the overall project. This statement of no more than 2 pages should address problems that arose
and the steps taken to solve them as well as problems that remained unsolved. It should be
serious and constructively critical, asking, for example, what alternative plans or steps might
have been taken, how as a result of this effort might a new plan differ from the first, what steps
worked well and what steps did not (and why), etc.
Evaluation: the peer, self-evaluation of each group will make up approximately 33% of the
group's grade for this assignment (oral reports make up about 25% of overall course grades). It is
very important that the anecdotal evaluation (supplemented by the plan of work, bibliography,
and log) and the recommended grade support each other (especially since I don't expect many
groups to recommend low grades for themselves). Except in very exceptional situations, all
members of each group will get the same grade for the project
Evaluation--by both each group and the instructor--is based on:
--the quality of the plan of work and its degree of success in meeting the overall assignment;
--that success includes defining and narrowing the topic, dividing the labor, the quality (not just
the length) of the bibliography, the research, and the results of that definition and research as
presented in the form of an oral report;
--the development of the oral presentation that selects, integrates and interrelates, and synthesizes
the research;
--the presentation itself (as evaluated by instructor)
Good Luck!!!
15
Harvey J. Graff
HON 3213
Monday, 2:00-4:45 pm
Growing Up in America: Past, Present, Future
Fall, 1998
Description of Course
Did childhood exist in the past, or is it a modern invention? Are childhood and adolescence, as
we have known them, and as some claim, disappearing? Are they biological or "natural" and
universal stages of human development, or at least in part the products of society and culture and
history? Do childhood and children have a future? How different from today was growing up in
the past? How did the young mature in past times, and what relationships to current patterns does
that past have?
This course asks a number of important questions about the changing experiences and meanings
of growing up--childhood, adolescence, youth, "coming of age." In contrast to most
contemporary views, it looks seriously at the past, at the history of growing up, as a comparison
to the present and as the specific context from which today's patterns and problems developed.
History thus provides a rich laboratory in which current notions about growing up--for example,
from psychology, anthropology, sociology, human developmental studies, and related areas-may be explored and tested. The relevance, usefulness, and accuracy of theories that relate to
growing up will be examined in historical context and probed over a broad expanse of time.
A wide variety of evidence, including films and novels, and a number of different research
traditions and approaches are considered. In addition, we will evaluate family, child, and youth
policy as it has developed over time, and its functions today, and as it provides options for
tomorrow. A new, broad, rich, and interdisciplinary understanding of growing up and its
challenges is the course goal.
Requirements: 1. Regular attendance, preparation, and participation; 2. 3 2-page
"reaction\evaluation" papers at regular intervals during the semester, each 3-4 weeks, responding
to required reading, films, etc. Due: first week in September, October, and November. 3.
Participation in a group research project and class presentation: giving historical, theoretical, and
policy context and perspective to a contemporary question or problem; 4. 10 page paper:
synthesis and integration of course ideas and materials with primary sources on growing up,
selected from either materials of students' own research or from Eve Merriam, ed., Growing Up
Female in America: Ten Lives, Chris Mayfield, ed., Growing Up Southern, Hamilton Holt, ed.,
Life Stories; Mary Frosch, ed., Coming of Age in America; Harold Augenbraum and Ilan
Stavans, eds., Growing Up Latino (detailed information provided in class).
Books ordered for University Bookstore and Off-Campus Books include: Harvey J. Graff, ed.,
Growing Up in America: Historical Experiences; Edward Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster;
Stephen Crane, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets; Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life. . . an
American Slave; Lucy Larcom, A New England Girlhood; Richard Wright, Black Boy; J.D.
16
Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye; Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street; W. Norton
Grubb and Marvin Lazerson, Broken Promises: How Americans Fail Their Children.
17
HIS 4203
Fall, 2003
Harvey J. Graff
Growing Up in America: Past, Present, Future
Library Reserve Reading—Library Use Only
Alan Prout and Allison James, “A New Paradigm for the Sociology of Childhood?” in
Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the
Sociological Study of Childhood, ed. James and Prout (Falmer, 1990), 7-34
Rayna Rapp, Ellen Ross, and Renate Bridenthal, “Examining Family History,”
Feminist Studies 5 (1979) 174-200
Mary P Ryan, “The Explosion of Family History,” Reviews in American History, 10
(1982), 181-195
Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalga
Trap. Basic 1991, Introduction, 1-22
Keith Thomas, "Children in Early Modern England," in Children and their Books,
ed. Gillian Avery and Julia Briggs (Oxford Univ. Press, 1989), 45-77
articles listed in Week 1
N. Ray Hiner and Joseph M. Hawes, eds., Growing Up in America: Children in
Historical Perspective (Univ. of Illinois, 1985)
Frederick Douglass, Autobiography
Lucy Larcom, A New England Girlhood
Edward Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Stephen Crane, Maggie, Girl of the Streets
Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers
Richard Wright, Black Boy
E.L. Doctorow, World's Fair
Americo Parades, George Washington Gomez
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
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Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
Alix Kates Shulman, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. Bantam, 1973
Vicki Ruiz, "'Star Struck': Acculturation, Adolescence, and the Mexican
American Woman, 1920-1950," in Building With Our Own Hands: New Directions
in Chicana Studies, ed. Adela de la Torre and Beatriz M. Pesquera (University of
California Press, 1993), 109-129,
Ruiz, "Oral History and La Mujer: The Rosa Gerrero Story," in Women on the U.S.Mexico Border: Responses to Change, ed. Ruiz and Susan Tiano (Allen & Unwin,
1987), 219-231
Gary Alan Fine and Jay Mechling, “Minor Difficulties: Changing Children in the Late
Twentieth Century,” in America at Century’s End, ed. Alan Wolfe (California,
1991), 58-78
Robert L. Hampel, “A Generation in Crisis?” Daedalus 127, 4 (Fall 1998) 67-88
Sherry B. Ortner, “Generation X: Anthropology in a Media-Saturated World,” in Critical
Anthropology Now, ed. George E Marcus (School of American Research Press,
1999) 55-87
Read: W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson, Broken Promises: How Americans Fail
Their Children, esp. Part I
Andrew J. Cherlin, ed., The Changing American Family and Public Policy
Institute, 1988)
Eve Merriam, ed., Growing Up in Female in America: Ten Lives. Beacon, 1987
Chris Mayfield, ed., Growing Up Southern: Southern Exposure Looks at Childhood
Then and Now. Pantheon, 1981
Hamilton Holt, ed., The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans as Told by
Themselves, ed. Werner Sollers. Routledge, 1990
Mary Frosch, ed., Coming of Age in America: A Multicultural Anthology. New
Press, 1994
Harold Augenbraum and and Ilan Stavans, eds., Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and
Stories. Houghton Mifflin, 1993
Tiffany Lopez, ed., Growing Up Chicana/o. Avon, 1995
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(Urban