- CC 325 CX - Children & Childhood: Jewish, Christian & Muslim Perspectives
- 3 or 4 Credits
MWF 11:50-12:40pm - Professor Bunge
(Cross-listed with THEO 368X - fulfills upper level Theology requirement)
The aims of this course are to explore diverse religious understandings of children and childhood and to reexamine our own attitudes and obligations to children. The course first examines contemporary challenges facing children and families both here and abroad and then focuses on some of the following fundamental questions: How do various traditions within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam speak about the nature and status of children? How do they view obligations of parents and the community to children? How do they speak about the moral and spiritual formation of children? What kinds of religious practices do they emphasize for passing on a particular faith tradition to children? How do they view the responsibilities of children and their role in religious rituals and communal life? How are leaders of various religious traditions responding to current national and international debates about child wellbeing and children’s rights? Participants in the course will read and discuss selected classical and contemporary texts on these and other related questions. Students will also carry out a research project on a topic of their choice.
Requirements include active participation in class discussion; two short papers on common reading assignments (4-5 pages each); and a final research paper (10 pages). This course will be of special interest to those students interested in marriage and the family; childhood studies; the moral and spiritual development of children; theological and ethical perspectives on children; youth and family ministry; children’s rights; and child advocacy.