Symposium: Imagining the Child
Representations of the child in art, literature and law across time and in different cultures provoke complex questions not easily or satisfactorily answered within a single discipline. They ask us to address the social construction of childhood as well as the cultural function of childhood as a looking glass which reflects and reveals broader social themes and changes. Thought-provoking research around these issues is being carried out in many different fields, yet rarely is a space provided for conversation and interdisciplinary learning. This symposium provides a unique opportunity to bring scholars from multiple disciplinary perspectives together to discuss how childhood is depicted, governed, celebrated and disturbed. How is the child identified? How do representations of children and childhood reflect or transgress normative cultural values?