_{Gertrud Lenzer
Founding Director of the Children and Youth Studies Program}

In 1991 Brooklyn College became the founding institution of the interdisciplinary field of Children and Youth Studies (formerly Children’s Studies). To develop the field more widely in the United States, Dr. Gertrud Lenzer, the program director, also established the American Sociological Association Section on the Sociology of Children. Hailed as “pioneering” by The New York Times, the Brooklyn College program has been emulated at many universities and colleges both here and abroad since its inception. Brooklyn College and The City University of New York have been the source of significant academic and scholarly programmatic innovations in higher education through this interdepartmental program, which brings together knowledge about children and youth from infancy through the age of legal majority as seen from the perspectives of the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, medicine, and the law. A minor in Children’s Studies was established in 1994 for all liberal arts majors. In 2001, a 30-credit interdisciplinary children’s studies concentration for majors in early childhood education teacher and childhood education teacher programs was introduced in cooperation with the Brooklyn College School of Education. In addition, Children’s Studies is available to students in the CUNY Baccalaureate Program as a major or minor.  As of Fall 2009, students can now take the new 30-credit Bachelor of Arts in Children and Youth Studies and proudly pronounce themselves Children and Youth Studies majors!  In the Fall of 2011 the name of the program at Brooklyn College officially changed from Children's Studies to Children and Youth Studies!

Please note, information regarding the Children's Studies Center for Research, Policy and Public Service can be found on separate pages within this site.

   
RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS    

• The Children First Club recently released their first official newsletter!  Please view the December 2011 issue of the Children First Club Newsletter!
• The Children and Youth Studies Program schedule of classes for Spring 2012 is now available!
• On Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Dennis M. Walcott, spoke in Assembly member Scarborough's course CHST 3320 Children, Public Policies, Advocacy and Legislation in New York State.
• On Tuesday, December 6, 2011 the Children and Youth Studies Program with the Children First Club held our 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Founding of Children's Studies in the State Lounge of SUBO at Brooklyn College.
• The Children's Studies Program has officially become the Children and Youth Studies Program! 
• Please view our Programs/Requirements page to see the changes we have made to the Major, Concentration, and Minor.  We have also created a new minor, Pre-Professional Explorations: Focus on Children in Social Services and the Law!
• View our latest publication, New Horizons III: The Future of Children, Youth, and the Public Good, which details the news, events, and activities of the Children and Youth Studies Program (formerly Children's Studies) and the Children's Studies Center from 2009-2010.  This edition also features the students from our first graduating class of Children's Studies majors!
• Since the introduction of the Children and Youth Studies Major in the Fall of 2010 over 250 students have declared Children and Youth Studies as their major!

QUICK LINKS

• Career Prospects with Children and Youth Studies
• Children and Youth Studies Programs/Requirements
• Children's Studies Center for Research, Policy and Public Service
• Our News Releases  
• Children and Youth Studies Fall 2011 Schedule of Classes (pdf)
• Fourth Child Policy Forum of New York: Speeches, photos, bios & more
• Jobs, Internships, and Study Abroad Opportunities
• New Horizons: The Future of Children, Youth, and the Public Good (2010)
• New Horizons: The Future of Children, Youth, and the Public Good (2009)
• New Horizons (2008)
• Children’s Studies “Study with the Best” featured on CUNY TV

VIEW CHILDREN AND YOUTH STUDIES BROCHURES

• Children and Youth Studies Major
• Children and Youth Studies Concentration
• Children and Youth Studies Minor

© Children and Youth Studies Program.   All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced in any form, without the express written permission of the Children and Youth Studies Program. Requests should be sent by e-mail to childrensstudies@brooklyn.cuny.edu.  Please include your complete contact information, purpose of your request and intended use of material. 

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