Critical Childhood Studies: A Long 19c American Digital Humanities Project is committed to gathering and nurturing the growing community of critical childhood studies scholars; to advancing teaching and scholarship in the field; and to encouraging the professional development of scholars at all stages of their careers, including graduate students, contingent faculty, instructors, and independent scholars. We seek to build an inclusive community where we can support each other.

Conceived by Allison Giffen and Lucia Hodgson at the 2018 C19 conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Critical Childhood Studies grew out of the intellectual excitement generated by the seminar “Childhood Teleologies: Climates of Growth,” organized and chaired by Anna Mae Duane and Karen Sánchez-Eppler. This seminar marked a significant milestone in the field of critical childhood studies. It prompted so much interest that its organizers offered two sessions that brought together more than twenty scholars with a range of interests in childhood studies. Critical Childhood Studies continues and extends the exciting conversations begun at the C19 conference.