Youth Studies B.S.

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Program description

Youth Studies is a major that allows you to learn about youth as an idea across time, place and community; about young people as they experience their everyday lives; and about youth work or the various approaches and practices involved in working with young people.

Youth Studies is an interdisciplinary program that explores the social construction of youth and our responses to them. In the Youth Studies program you will:
- Learn a myriad of theories about young people including: cultural, political, sociological, phenomenological, biopsychological, and historical perspectives of youth.
- Identify and interrogate the ideas and ask increasingly complicated questions about young people and what is known about them.
- Reflect on your own experiences of being a young person and your own youth-hood.
- Engage and learn about the everyday lives of youth.
- Leave prepared to imagine and engage in a range of youth work practices and professional spaces.
- Graduate with a background in designing innovative youth interventions and evaluation and research methods to explore what these create for young people and the communities they live in.

Youth Studies students engage community through regular site visits, program observations, community-engaged learning, international exchanges, and internships. Students are supported by culturally competent academic advising and one-on-one student-elder partnerships with faculty, staff, or community leaders. Qualified graduates may pursue graduate study in fields such as: youth development leadership, social work, education, public policy, or nonprofit/business management.

Program requirements for the majors at the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) fulfill a number of the University's required liberal education (LE) cores and themes. Youth Studies students have multiple options for fulfilling LE requirements and are designed explicitly to align with CEHD's mission by providing foundational skill development and preparation for advanced coursework in youth studies.

Program last updated

Fall 2024