In April 2007, the ANU Research School for the Humanities proposes to hold a 2-day symposium on "Visualising Childhoods" convened by ARC Professorial Fellow, David McDougall.
The Symposium will explore the ways in which children and childhood are represented in visual media, how visual media can be used in childhood research, and some of the practical, theoretical, and ethical questions raised by both activities. We invite scholars in the wide variety of disciplines interested in this topic to propose papers and presentations for the symposium, which may include the use of film, video, artwork, and still photography.
Some of the areas in which we would be glad to receive proposals are:
- Studies of the representation of children in films, photography, television, and advertising, historically and in the present
- Recent uses of film, video, and photography in child-focused social research
- Historical uses of film and photography in childhood research (e.g. Bateson & Mead's 1936 project on Balinese character development)
- Studies of the uses of visual media in advocacy on behalf of children (e.g. Lewis Hine's child labour photography, studies of children in war, etc.)
- Children's own creative use of visual media, and research based on studies of this work
