CONFERENCE ON CHILDHOOD AT MOUNT HOLYOKE
CELEBRATES GORSE CENTER’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

"Childhood Besieged" features experts William Damon, Vivian Gussin Paley,
and Gloria Johnson-Powell

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – "Childhood Besieged: Restoring Hope and Integrity in Children’s Lives," a conference that will examine how economic and social pressures are affecting family and school life and explore ways to enhance the quality of children’s lives and their futures, will be held Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9, in Gamble Auditorium at Mount Holyoke College.

The conference, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the College’s Gorse Child Study Center, features talks by:

William Damon, professor of education at Stanford University and author of The Youth Charter: How Communities Can Work Together to Raise Standards for All Our Children and Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools;

Vivian Gussin Paley, former kindergarten teacher at the University of Chicago Lab School and author of You Can’t Say You Can’t Play and In Mrs. Tully’s Room: A Childcare Portrait; and

Gloria Johnson-Powell, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and director of the Center for the Study of Cultural Diversity in Healthcare at the University of Wisconsin Medical School and the author of Transcultural Child Development: The Context for Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment of Children and The Afro-American Family: Assessment, Treatment, and Research Issues. She is a member of the College’s class of 1958.

Patricia Ramsey, director of the Gorse Center and a professor of psychology and education, said economic factors, pressure on children to grow up quickly, and a culture of commercialization that places possessions before character are making it increasingly difficult to protect the quality of children’s lives. "The events of September 11 have only worsened the feeling of childhood besieged, underscoring the fragility of it all and making us more aware of the pressures on families," Ramsey said.

She said the conference is designed to move beyond an acknowledgement of the challenges to explore ways to restore hope, integrity, and purpose in the lives of children.

Damon will speak on "The Moral Advantage: Cultivating an Enduring Sense of Purpose in Our Children," on March 8 at 7:30 PM. On March 9 at 9:30 AM, Paley will present "Children Indivisible: How Children Invent Community through Their Stories and Play." That afternoon’s panel discussion will be titled "Possibilities and Strategies for Enhancing the Quality of Children’s Lives." It will be followed at 3:45 PM by "Children and Families in a Diverse Society: Implications for Health and Human Service Delivery," a keynote address by Johnson-Powell.

Since its founding in 1952, the Gorse Child Study Center has modeled innovative early childhood curricula and practices, supported a wide range of developmental and educational research projects, provided quality preschool and kindergarten education to local families, and launched many generations of Mount Holyoke students into careers working with families and children.

The conference is open to all those interested in the well-being of young children, including teachers, students, researchers, psychologists, social workers, pediatricians, and parents. Registration for the conference is $20 with an optional Saturday lunch for $10. The deadline for registration is March 1. For more information and registration materials, call 413-538-2039 or click on Upcoming Events at www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu.

The conference is sponsored by the Gorse Child Study Center, the Department of Psychology and Education, the Alumnae Association, the Weissman Center for Leadership, and the Purington Lecture Fund.

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