MSc in Child Studies

Challenge conventional views on children and childhood. This master’s program is interdisciplinary and focuses on the critical study of questions related to children and childhood.

Courses explore various areas: children’s rights, parents and the family, education, and school, migration, culture, the media, and health. You will deepen your knowledge of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives in child studies. These courses will give you a broad knowledge of questions that concern the lives of children. Our core focus is on how to apply the latest research findings in order to critically review, develop, and improve policies and practices related to children and childhood. The program is hosted by an internationally renowned research department, which has conducted research on child and childhood studies since 1988. The teachers are active researchers, which guarantees that cutting-edge knowledge is presented.

Online and on-campus training

The program can be taken in one or two years and will prepare you for designing, planning, and conducting research that concerns children, childhood, and families. Each year is concluded with a 15-credits master’s thesis. The program is primarily taught online with the aid of a digital learning platform, but there are three 1–5 days long on-campus periods in the first year and two in the second. This allows for some flexibility as to where and when you conduct your studies. The program has high academic standards, however, and requires students to commit full time to their studies.

The Master’s Programme in Child Studies is an international study program. Students in the program usually have experiences from many different national and cultural contexts. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to draw on their experiences in discussions and seminars. This will give you the opportunity to exchange ideas about children, childhood, and the family in an international forum.

Syllabus

Introduction

The Master’s Programme in Child Studies is a two-year, full-time study program at an advanced level. Instruction will take place in the form of distance learning online combined with shorter periods of campus-based instruction. Students who wish to complete only one year of the program can apply for a Master’s Degree in Child Studies (60 credits) after having successfully completed all courses of the first and second terms. Successful completion of all courses of the program’s four semesters gives a student the right to apply for a Master’s Degree in Child Studies (120 credits).

The program offers students in-depth knowledge of working at governmental authorities as well as local organizations, both governmental and non-governmental (NGO), whose activities affect children and their living conditions. The program also provides professionals in the fields of, for example, education, politics, social work, and care, with cutting-edge knowledge in issues dealing with children and their living conditions. It also provides preparation for research studies related to Child and Childhood Studies.

Aim

National Qualifications according to the Swedish Higher Education Act

Knowledge and understanding

For a Master of Social Science (60 credits) degree the student shall:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding in Child Studies, including both an overview of the field and specialized knowledge in certain areas of the field as well as insight into current research and development work, and
• demonstrate specialized methodological knowledge in Child Studies.

For a Master of Social Science (120 credits) the student shall:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding in Child Studies, including both broad knowledge of the field and a considerable degree of specialized knowledge in certain areas of the field as well as insight into current research and development work, and
• demonstrate specialized methodological knowledge in Child Studies.

Competence and skills

For a Master of Social Science (60 credits) degree the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge and analyze, assess, and deal with complex phenomena, issues, and situations even with limited information
• demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues autonomously as well as to plan and, using appropriate methods, undertake advanced tasks within predetermined time frames
• demonstrate the ability in speech and writing to report clearly and discuss his or her conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based in dialogue with different audiences, and
• demonstrate the skills required for participation in research and development work or employment in some other qualified capacity.

For a Master of Social Science (120 credits) the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and analyze, assess and deal with complex phenomena, issues and situations even with limited information
• demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues critically, autonomously, and creatively as well as to plan and, using appropriate methods, undertake advanced tasks within predetermined time frames and so contribute to the formation of knowledge as well as the ability to evaluate this work
• demonstrate the ability in speech and writing both nationally and internationally to report clearly and discuss his or her conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based in dialogue with different audiences, and
• demonstrate the skills required for participation in research and development work or autonomous employment in some other qualified capacity.

Research

The master's program is hosted by the internationally renowned research unit for Child Studies at Linköping University, which consists of more than 20 researchers, including four professors and several Ph.D. students.

Child Studies

Education and research at Child Studies are about childhood and family with a focus on interaction and language, children’s culture and consumption, and childhood over time and space, all to better see the perspectives of children and young people.

Research on Children

LiU is home to extensive research on children, young people, and perspectives on childhood. The research is multidisciplinary and is conducted at several different institutions.

Pupils' definitions of mental health

The argument that young people do not feel well is common in reports and media. What does it mean? We examine schoolchildren’s experiences of mental health and how such knowledge can add to the knowledge gained from surveys measuring symptoms.

The welfare of the child and the reproductive rights of adults

Is it a right to have biological children? Should treatment with conception be available to all, or should availability be restricted? We study how Swedish legislation and fertility clinics deal with these ethical dilemmas.

Psychiatrization of Childhood?

Swedish child expertise is concerned about the seeming increase in child and youth mental health problems. But is it really a change? The project explores the changing representations of mental ill-health in childhood in media from 1968-2008.