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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood

@histchildoxford.bsky.social

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Oxford University Centre for the History of Childhood - a centre established in 2003 to promote research into the history of children, youth and childhood. https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/centre-history-childhood

www.history.ox.ac.uk

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · 2d

We're delighted to share the programme for this term's History of Childhood seminar series. We can't wait to hear from all our fantastic speakers. Join us for our first session on Monday 20 October, at Magdalen College Oxford or online via Teams at 11am when we'll be thinking all about 'play'!

Programme for the History of Childhood seminar series Michaelmas 2025. Seminars are on Mondays 11:00-12:15 at Magdalen College Oxford (Sophia Sheppard Room) and online via Microsoft Teams. All welcome and to join us for lunch afterwards.
On Monday 20 October there is a welcome seminar and discussion of approaches to ‘play’ within histories of childhood and youth. Meet with other researchers working on histories of childhood and youth, with papers exploring ‘play’ from: Fiona Maxwell (University of Chicago) on drama and performativity; Holly Nielsen (historian and narrative designer) on board games; and Caitlin Hendrie (Macquarie University) on archaeological approaches. On Monday 3 November Joey Rauschenberger will speak on ‘Children on the streets. Conceptual thoughts on a history of modernity and empirical explorations on the example of the late German Empire.’ On Monday 17 November, Charlotte Canizo will give a paper on ‘Crossing Borders, Reshaping Lives: Jewish Orphan Migrations and Humanitarian Relief Before the Holocaust (late nineteenth - early twentieth century)’. Our final seminar is on Monday 1 December when Aisha Djelid will present on 'Enslaved Children, “Adultification,” and Resistance in the antebellum US South, 1812-1861'.
To find out more, join the email list web.maillist.ox.ac.uk/ox/info/history-of-childhood or follow us on Bluesky @histchildoxford.bsky.social or Instagram @histchildoxford. For online access, Microsoft Teams links will be sent to the email list in advance or email sian.pooley@magd.ox.ac.uk for a link.

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Reposted by Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood

Laura Tisdall @lauratisdall.bsky.social · 2d

The call for papers for the @histchild.bsky.social 2026 conference at the University of Sheffield, 1-3 July, is now up on our website! Deadline 14 December www.histchild.org/pages/sheffi... #histchild #skystorians #histyouth

Fifth Biennial Conference | Children's History Society

University of Sheffield, 1-3 July 2026

www.histchild.org

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · 2d

We're so excited to hear about Holly Nielsen's research in our 1st seminar of term on 'play' in a couple of weeks! 20 October 11-12:15 in Oxford & online - more info on how to join us here: talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/series...

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · 2d

We're excited to welcome our speakers Fiona Maxwell, @hollynielsen.bsky.social, Caitlin Hendrie, Joey Rauschenberger, @charlottecanizo.bsky.social & @aishadjelid.bsky.social! More info incl. how to join online at talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/series...

Centre for the History of Childhood Seminars and Events - Oxford Talks

talks.ox.ac.uk

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · 2d

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Closing with really interesting discussion of different approaches to study of childhood and asking how far historians might be able to contribute to those discussions

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Also mentions attendance at recent early childhood conference and dominance of neuroscientific approaches to childhood without attention to social and cultural context or other ways of understanding childhood

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

and demonstrate what could be done with an ordinary child; then puts her into an exhibition (which lasts until age 5); noting how muddled and paradoxical the Victorians were on childhood - both venerating and extreme punishment of trivial transgressions

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

suggests 19thc sees emergence of systematic efforts to record childhood with Darwin, fascination with development of babies - eg MW Shinn "Biography of a baby" (1900) - presents the baby as an experimenter, trying out different strategies; moves on to Henry Olerich who adopts baby Viola to train

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

suggests key interpretations of childhood - stage before adulthood, but also child of one's parents, which means can remain a child into adulthood - highlights complex relational webs surround our understanding of childhood

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

and highlights absence of children in the record and the violences of institutionalisation according to developmental categories. Shifts gear to talk about her own work on travel and health, noting that often such travel is for the sake of the children

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

that attended to children as active agents rather than acted upon, and Bonnie Evans' emphasis on the way definitions of childhood have been deployed globally. Notes the postgraduate panel's attention to themes of age, gender, race, education, moral panics, and the role of the state;

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Sally begins with reflecting on the day, asking if there are always fundamental contradictions w/in categorisations of childhood and state's use of the concept of childhood - forced on indigenous people in Canada, and denied to 'lorry girls' and migrant youth; highlights significance of a paper

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

And we close with Sally Shuttleworth's closing commentary on 'Recording childhood: from baby biographies to neuroscience'.

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

her work suggests the way disabled and chronically unwell children might be physically displaced from the opportunity to be children and maternal care in hospitals

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Second speaker: Katie Joice on 'The limits of Bowlbyism: disability, social policy and the right to childhood, in 1970s Britain' - exploring campaign to explore exclusion of Bowlbyism from Curtice Report which emphasised family-style care; notes invisibility of children in institutions

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Final session kicking off: Hugh Morrison on colonisation & the language of age, southern New Zealand, 1848-68; asking about importance of children to early British colonisation of NZ, notes language of youthfulness is attributed to the colony itself, & children are conceptualised as key to future

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Final paper in our postgraduate panel: Charlie Bell on 'Food for thought: the (pseudo)science of children's intellectual development in late 20thC Britain' - focusing on two BBC documentaries suggesting that diet could improve children's intellectual development

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

accentuated by fears of degeneration and leading to a focus on the production/fabrication of black motherhood

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Now Serena Iacobino on her work examining degeneration theories and construction of new imperial child in colonial Congo; argues that education of young girls was seen as they key guarantor of a future healthy and productive race

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Now Leting Zheng on competing narratives of happiness during the Great Leap Forward; shows how new revolutionary ideas began to supersede ideas of evolutionary childhood; emphasising importance of child labour and engagement to national development

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Second Shereece Linton-Ramsay on her study of juvenile justice and reform institutions in 20thC NY state; very interesting on the adultification of African American boys in the institution and tendency to perceive their friendship and kinship networks through the lens of activism or challenge

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Now our postgraduate panel - First, Suzanna Winterbourne on her work examining children's clothing and public health in the 1880s - excellent demonstration of the way attending to the advice in the media on dress and health can give a sense of the concerns and anxieties around child development

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

continuing the conversation begun with @kalexand.bsky.social 's paper this morning

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Evans concludes that the child developmental norms established from the 1950s and applied universally become categories of international comparison, to measure humanity, and to understand political economy; v powerful paper showing how categorisations of childhood operate politically

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Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · Jun 23

Articulation of theory of spectrum of child behaviour which it is claimed is universally applicable, and leads to identification of behaviours classified in DSM; v interesting on the way new film and statistical technologies enables the construction of these categories

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