University of Winnipeg: Master of Arts in Cultural Studies

The M.A. in Cultural Studies is a degree with two currently approved specializations: 1) Texts and Cultures and 2) Curatorial Practices. Students in both specializations will have an opportunity to take courses drawn from six related areas:

  • cultural theory
  • cultures of childhood
  • gender, sexuality, and culture
  • local, national, and global cultures
  • manuscript, print, and digital cultures
  • visual cultures

University of British Columbia: Master of Arts in Children’s Literature

The University of British Columbia offers a multidisciplinary Master of Arts program in Children’s Literature, sponsored and administered by the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, with the participation of the departments of English, Language and Literacy Education, and Theatre, Film and Creative Writing.

Eastern Michigan University: Master of Arts in Children’s Literature

Eastern Michigan University offers a Master of Arts program in Children’s Literature. The program has a strong base in traditional literature, mythology, folklore and the history of children’s literature, but also includes graduate students in current dialogues about literary and cultural theories, film studies, children’s media, gender studies, multicultural children’s literature, and contemporary children’s culture. For more information, see the brochure.

Brock University: Master of Arts in Child and Youth Studies

This MA is a multidisciplinary program that brings together talented students and faculty dedicated to advancing research and practice about children and young people. A multidisciplinary MA degree in Child and Youth Studies prepares students for: Ph.D. Programs in Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Education, and related disciplines; careers in social service agencies supporting children and youth; positions in government agencies; careers in education-related fields; careers in child and youth care; and professional positions in related fields concerned with children and youth.

Brunel University London: Master of Arts in Children, Youth and International Development

This programme is unique within the UK in catering specifically for those working, or interested in working, in the field of children, youth and international development. The course will equip you with the conceptual understanding and breadth of empirical knowledge that will enable you to critically evaluate policy and practice in the area of children, youth and development and give you the skills necessary to design and undertake research relating to children, youth and development.

Freie Universität Berlin: Master of Arts in Childhood Studies and Children’s Rights

This MA study programme of the European Network of Masters in Children’s Rights at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, is directed to: Graduates of social sciences, law, education, humanities, social work as well as other graduate students with professional experience of working with children; and professionals holding a BA in governmental and non-governmental institutions and organisations in the field of youth work, education, social services, health and law. The course deals with all aspects of childhood, viewed as a socio-cultural construct, and with theories of children’s rights and practice in adult-child relationships. For more information, see the brochure.

Institute of Education, University of London: MA Sociology in Childhood and Children’s Rights

This established MA programme welcomes students from every continent and from a wide range of disciplines, professions and backgrounds. The course takes a sociological approach to the study of childhoods and focuses on the UN 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is especially suitable for people who work, or plan to work with or for children. We offer three modules in: Theories of Childhood and Children’s Rights; Children’s Rights in Practice – a one-week intensive module (also offered on a stand-alone basis); Researching Childhood; Students then select an additional (fourth) module from the wide range available across the Institute of Education.

King’s College London:
MA in Child Studies and
MA in International Child Studies

King’s College London offers a Master of Arts program in Child Studies, and a Master of Arts program in International Child Studies. Both the MA in Child Studies and the MA in International Child Studies are available for full and part-time study. They offer inter-disciplinary training for professionals working with children and young people, and graduates intending to work in the statutory or voluntary sector in the UK or overseas. Students can expect to gain an understanding of children’s rights; child health and development; sociological and theoretical approaches to childhood; and local and global issues in child protection.

Mount Saint Vincent University: MA in Child and Youth Study

This program will help you to develop an understanding of issues that affect children and youth in our region, in Canada, and around the world. In this thesis-based program, you will conduct focused and relevant original research in areas like early intervention, child and youth development, social justice, race and ethnic relations, child and youth health and wellness, play, and more.

Norwegian University of Sciences and Technology: Master of Philosophy in Childhood Studies

The MPhil in Childhood Studies aims to provide students with an understanding of the relationship between childhood and culture as well as the dynamics between economic, social and political conditions and children’s livelihoods and welfare in different contexts. This program is relevant for building a career related to children and childhood in different public sectors.

University College of London: MA in Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights

The Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights MA will introduce students to a range of contemporary social theories about childhood and children’s rights, critically explore social constructions of childhood, and consider the implications these have for professional practice and research with children and young people.

University of Edinburgh: MSc in Childhood Studies

The MSc/Diploma in Childhood Studies is an intensive interdisciplinary degree, designed to explore issues such as child law and how it is implemented through policy and practice, and the implications of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) for child welfare, disability, education, family studies, juvenile justice, social policy and social work.

University of Fribourg and the Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch: MA in Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights

The Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights (MCR) is a part-time international and interdisciplinary postgraduate programme on children’s rights, which takes place over a two-year period. The Programme is organised conjointly by the University of Fribourg and the Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB), both in Switzerland, and is designed for professionals who work with children’s rights issues, including lawyers, psychologists, sociologists, judges, social workers, government officials, staff of non-governmental organisations, academics and journalists.

University of Geneva: MA in Advanced Studies of Children’s Rights

The Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights (MCR) is a part-time two-year postgraduate programme in children’s rights. The MCR is an interdisciplinary and international master, which attracts a large range of graduate students from all over the world, and it combines residential teaching and distance learning. It privileges both an international and an interdisciplinary approach to children’s rights.

University of Glasgow: MEd in Children’s Literature and Literacies

The University of Glasgow offers an exciting new MEd programme, the first of its kind in Scotland, which offers students the opportunity to consider the central concerns of the field of children’s literature and literacy teaching in the light of new perspectives and offers the chance to deepen expertise in specialist areas. It affords course members the opportunity to take a literary and critical stance to well-loved texts as well as introducing them to contemporary authors and texts which push the boundaries of children’s literature.

University of Gloucester: MA in Professional Studies in Children’s Play

The University of Gloucester offers an MA in Professional Studies in Children’s Play that has been developed in conjunction with practitioners and professionals from a range of sectors. The programme aims to meet the needs of professionals including playworkers, early years’ workers, educators, landscape designers, planners, environmental educators, health professionals and animateurs in a variety of contexts – museums, zoos, tourism, public space. The programme places an understanding of the nature and benefits of play for its own sake at the centre of study rather than seeing play as an instrument to achieve other purposes.

University of Newcastle: M.Litt in English Literature specialising in Children’s Literature

The University of Newcastle offers a M.Litt in English Literature specializing in Children’s Literature. Based in the School of English’s Children’s Literature Unit (CLU) this programme, running since 2003, offers students the opportunity to explore and develop interests in children’s literature, while gaining a qualification that can act as a foundation for PhD research, enhance professional career prospects by developing specific skills, or satisfy a desire to study children’s literature in depth. It is also possible to incorporate elements of creative writing in the course.

University of Pittsburgh: PhD in English Literature specialising in Children’s Literature and Culture

The University of Pittsburgh offers a PhD program in English Literature with a focal area in Children’s Literature and Culture. Drawing on Pitt’s nationally-renowned faculty in Children’s Literature and Culture, CLCS pursues the interdisciplinary study of children’s literature and media from the U.S., Great Britain, and beyond.

University of Sussex: MA in Childhood and Youth Studies

The University of Sussex offers an MA in Childhood and Youth Studies in the School of Education and Social Work. The course is distinctive for being both interdisciplinary and inter-professional and, as such, brings a range of contrasting disciplinary and professional perspectives to bear on policy, practice, and research. Teaching expertise is drawn from within the faculties of Education, Social Work & Social Care, Law, Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropoplogy. The MA is one of two flagship programmes of the new Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth at the University of Sussex.

University of Reading: MA in Children’s Literature

The University of Reading’s Graduate Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media offers a MA in Children’s Literature. The extremely popular and well-known taught MA course (1 year full-time, 2 years part-time) involves the study of a wide range of Children’s Literature, and a wide range of issues around Children’s Literature, childhood, history, culture, and media. On the MA course, you will find yourself engaged in lively seminar discussions about anything from different cultural and historical ideas about children and reading and writing, the roles of popular fiction, film, television, and new multimedia, to the influence of ancient myth and folktale.

University of Warwick: MA in Childhood in Society

The University of Warwick’s Institute of Education offers a MA in Childhood in Society. The degree responds to significant developments and key theoretical debates in childhood studies. The course explores children’s lives and experiences in the social, economic, technological and global contexts of contemporary childhood. It addresses the challenges of an increasingly complex programme of Children’s Services that requires new ways of working with children and their families. The course allows students to plan their study to focus on national and international policy initiatives about children’s rights, learning and development. Childhood in Society has an inter-disciplinary perspective, including: sociology, psychology, anthropology, education, children’s literary studies, early childhood and social policy.

University of Winchester: MA in Writing for Children

The University of Winchester MA in Writing for Children programme explores the relationship between creative production and critical awareness of children’s literature, and develops writing skill in a supportive environment.

University of Worcester: Postgraduate Research

University of Worcester‘s’ International Forum for Research in Children’s Literature offers particular opportunities to undertake postgraduate research in the field of international children’s literature. They welcome enquiries from scholars wishing to develop or carry out projects as postgraduate students or post-doctoral researchers.

Shiraz University: MA in Children’s Literature

Shiraz University Centre for Research in Children’s Literature Studies offers an MA in Children’s Literature.

Trinity College Dublin: M.Phil. in Children’s Literature

Trinity College Dublin offers a M.Phil. in Children’s Literature. This degree is an opportunity to study a broad range of children’s literature in English, with special attention paid to the role of the Irish contribution to the development of children’s literature in English. The course is uniquely supported by the Pollard Collection, the bequest of more than 10,000 children’s books left to the College by Mary ‘Paul’ Pollard in 2005, and by the College’s deposit library. It’s the only full-time one year taught masters course in children’s literature in Ireland.

Southern Cross University: Master (Grad Dip, Grad Cert) of Childhood and Youth Studies

Southern Cross University’s Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Master of Childhood and Youth Studies qualifications are designed to meet the needs of people working, or intending to work, with children, young people and their families. The awards incorporate the latest research and explore the ways children, childhood and youth are conceptualised within family, community and international settings, including the theories, policies and practices that can inform professional practice. Participants will develop a range of skills to assist them to work more effectively with children and young people.