History of Education and Childhood

Introduction to Graduate Study in Literacy

A new graduate syllabus from Harvey Graff, Introduction to Graduate Study in Literacy.

Intro to Literacy Studies syllabus

New syllabus from Harvey Graff, Intro to Literacy Studies.

Literacy and Social Change syllabus

Harvey Graff asked me to post his new Studies in Literacy syllabus. Enjoy!

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You may have noted the paucity of entries here if you're searching—and as the person who maintains the site, I see the searches in the activity log. But other researchers have to become users and submit entries about their research projects to show up here and be searchable.

So, if you're a researcher looking for a like-minded person, please sign up and tell the world what you're up to!

The Institutional Confinement of ‘Idiot’ Children in Twentieth-century Canada: the case of the Orillia Asylum, 1900-1950

The history of intellectual disability in the Anglo-American context has long remained in the shadow cast by the history of madness and psychiatry and, more recently, physical disability. As Anne Digby contends: “Historically, the social marginality of people with learning disabilities has been mirrored by their academic marginality.” While this academic marginality has recently been diminished by the emerging field of disability history in the United States, Britain and Canada, the portrayal of Canadian asylums for people with intellectual disabilities has continued to be understood by historians (and thus society) in a traditional paradigm -- as “dumping grounds” used by families, physicians and the state for unwanted and unproductive members of society.

African-American migration for education

Another project I'd love someone to do (and John Rury is doing part of it right now): what strategies did African American families use to increase educational attainment at mid-century? In particular, is there any way to quantify the migration of teens to relatives living in Southern (or Nothern) cities as a way to acquire a high-school education?

Holocaust education as curriculum history

Another project that I'd love to see done: someone who looks at Holocaust education in the 20th century as an example of curriculum. According to European historians who were at a panel at the Social Science History Association meeting, there really was nothing we would call an education about the Holocaust or the Nazis right after World War II, and its development (especially in colleges) is relatively recent. I'm curious about the alleged gap after WW2 and wonder what else might be hidden in that, as a curriculum-history topic, given the topic's various overtones.