The primary sources used in this teaching module are designed to provide a well-rounded examination of children's experiences in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, filling in a topic that has until recently remained in the shadows due to a lack of sources and a perceived lack of importance. [more]
This essay was printed in the periodical Meiroku Zasshi in May 1874. The magazine was produced by a small group of intellectuals committed to the study of Europe and America. This journal, and the individuals who contributed to it, were at the core… [more]
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) is one of the most famous figures of modern Japan. He was an intellectual, journalist, and educator who was the most visible advocate of modernization and Western Learning in the 1870s and 1880s. In this excerpt from his… [more]
Katsu Kokichi (1802–1850), a middle- to lower-ranking samurai without distinction, nevertheless wrote his life story, supposedly to warn his children against his own disgraceful behavior. Yet, he brags of his mischief and rebelliousness, while… [more]
This excerpt comes from a chapter of Okina mondô, or Dialog with an Old Man, by Nakae Tôju (1606–1648), a Neo-Confucian philosopher. The Dialog teaches practical ethics through a series of questions and answers between a young disciple, Taijû,… [more]
The pioneering collection of fairy tales published by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the first half of the 19th century reflects both the romantic interest in the national past—that is, in the cultural origins and "childhood" of the German people—and… [more]
Folktales and fairy tales are resources for dealing with historical topics related to children and youth, and because 19th-century European editors, writers, and pedagogues presented folktales and fairy tales for the moral and cultural education of children, they also reveal how children and childhood were perceived by the societies that produced them, helping to examine the construction of childhood and the experiences of children from a socio-historical perspective. echo [more]
Like much of the public in turn-of-the-century Britain, Baden Powell was fascinated by "primitive" cultures. Although he claimed an expert knowledge of Africa from his service in colonial wars, Baden Powell was hardly an authority on Zulu customs.… [more]
This module examines the impact of colonization on childhood experiences in New Zealand’s bicultural society of indigenous Maori and mostly European Pakeha between the first encounter in the 18th century to the 20th century, including issues of language, child labor and schooling as well as changing values concerning family structure, identity, and social policy. [more]
