Rutgers to Launch Nation's First Childhood Studies Degree-Granting Programs at its Camden Campus

February 10, 2006

NEWARK, N.J. – The nation’s first doctoral degree-granting program in childhood studies will be launched at Rutgers University’s Camden campus beginning fall 2007. The creation of a childhood studies department at Rutgers-Camden, which will award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, was approved by the Rutgers Board of Governors during its meeting today on the Newark campus. The program awaits endorsement by the New Jersey Council of College Presidents.

Childhood studies is acknowledged widely as a prominent emerging academic discipline that is transforming research and scholarship on children in the same way that women’s studies and African-American studies transformed the study of race and gender during the late 20th century. While a handful of undergraduate and master’s programs in childhood studies exist in the United States and Great Britain, the Rutgers program will be the first to offer a doctorate in childhood studies.

“Research on every Rutgers campus seeks to provide new insight into the challenges facing the citizens of New Jersey and, indeed, the world,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick. “At Rutgers-Camden, we have a strong and growing core of faculty who are established leaders in childhood studies across a comprehensive spectrum of scholarly disciplines. Their excellence in research regularly earns national and international attention, and their work is instrumental in deepening our knowledge of childhood matters. As a result, Rutgers-Camden is the ideal location for the nation’s first doctoral program in this important field.”

The program will be the first doctoral program offered on the Camden campus. Additional doctoral programs in public affairs and computational science are under development. Rutgers-Camden offers a minor in childhood studies at the undergraduate level.

The childhood studies program will prepare policy leaders with new perspectives in child-related social practice and scholars capable of innovative research in this interdisciplinary field. The program will provide advanced theoretical and methodological study of children and childhood within state, national and global contexts.

“Improving the lives of children is one of the greatest challenges facing the United States,” said Margaret Marsh, dean of the Rutgers-Camden Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “Even now, few practitioners and scholars dealing with children’s issues have received the necessary graduate training that provides them with multidisciplinary approaches to intricate matters.

“Students graduating with an M.A. or Ph.D. in childhood studies will have received quality preparation for a range of academic and professional careers. Our students will benefit from a combination of scholarly rigor and attention to real-world practices within a complex interdisciplinary setting.”

“This new doctoral program, along with its complementary undergraduate and master’s programs, will position Rutgers as a regional, national and international leader in the emerging childhood studies movement,” said Rutgers-Camden Provost Roger Dennis. “Our students will define a new generation of scholarship and real-world practice that, in turn, will impact the lives of children for generations to come. Being first may not guarantee being the best, but we are convinced that we can be both first and first-rate.”

Marsh cites Rutgers’ Camden campus as the ideal setting for the innovative childhood studies program. Children in Camden comprise approximately 40 percent of the city’s population, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Through the Center for Children and Childhood Studies, Rutgers faculty and students engage in research projects addressing childhood matters and implement a wide array of projects designed to assist Camden’s children in such areas as literacy, health and preparation for career development.

Marsh anticipates that such outreach efforts will become important research and internship opportunities for Rutgers students in the graduate childhood studies programs.

The doctoral program in childhood studies will require 45 credits of coursework and completion of a research dissertation. The master’s and baccalaureate programs will be offered on both a full-time and part-time basis. The Center for Children and Childhood Studies was launched in 2000 to focus faculty expertise in childhood matters in the creation and dissemination of knowledge to those directly responsible for ministering to children's needs and to those formulating policies affecting their lives and futures. The center develops research and service programs that seek to equip various publics to make informed decisions concerning children and youth.

The Camden campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, offers 34 undergraduate and 13 master’s-level programs. Located in the heart of the vibrant Camden Waterfront, Rutgers-Camden is home to 250 faculty whose research, teaching and service endeavors are represented worldwide. During the fall 2005 semester, Rutgers-Camden enrolled 5,450 students.

Contacts:
Michael Sepanic
856-225-6026
E-mail: msepanic@camden.rutgers.edu

Greg Trevor
732-932-7084, ext.623
E-mail: gtrevor@ur.rutgers.edu