ANSO 202(S) Coming of Age*
Our bodies mature. Our minds develop. But in addition, social processes play a critical role in turning infants into children, adolescents, and finally into young adults. This course examines the social processes that guide these transitions as well as the often contradictory treatment of adolescents by social institutions. Topics addressed include: Historical and cross-cultural differences in the concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth; the use of social rituals such as puberty rites, school graduations and marriages to mark transitions; the affects of schools, colleges, and workplaces on the transition from adolescent to adult social roles and social identities; the impact of parent, sibling, and peer relations; the shifting "adult" status of younger people in the justice system, in welfare policy, in voting rights; and the culmination of all these issues in the "problem of generations"-how is it that one generation succeeds the next? Requirements: flexible combination of papers and/or exams. No prerequisites. Open to first-year students.