Children's Studies at Harvard (CSH), an initiative of the Harvard Project on Schooling and Children (one of five Interfaculty Initiatives), has announced three competitive grant programs for which applications are now being solicited.

Children's Studies, a new program funded by a recent grant from the Carnegie Corp. of New York, seeks to foster interdisciplinary research on children's issues, to increase the attention devoted to children in Harvard's curriculum, and to promote community efforts that enhance children's learning and well-being. Martha Minow, professor of law, and Stuart Hauser, professor of psychiatry and head of the Department of Psychiatry at the Judge Baker Children's Center, are the faculty chairs of the program.

To achieve its goals, Children's Studies has identified three themes around which it will structure its work:

* What social conditions promote children's resilience in the face of difficult circumstances?

* What are the various influences on children's identities, aspirations, and activities?

* What cultural and social roots help explain the place and treatment of children in public discourse?

The three grant competitions for which applications are now being accepted are:

Research Awards -- Up to six awards will be made for research projects which are (a) related to the three themes listed above, (b) inter-disciplinary, and (c) designed to enhance collaboration among university faculty, fellows and students, and community practitioners. The deadline is Oct. 1 for calendar year 1998 awards.

Interdisciplinary Course Development Awards -- Two awards will be made next summer to faculty members developing new courses, or units of courses, that can be incorporated into the Children's Studies curriculum. Courses may cover a variety of topics, but should include interdisciplinary components and have children as the central focus. The deadline is Oct. 1 for summer 1998 awards.

Student Research Assistantships -- Twelve awards will be made to faculty members who will serve as "mentors" to undergraduates and graduate students. The awards will fund research assistantships so that individual faculty members can sponsor students who are working on research projects related to one of the three themes listed above. The deadline is Sept. 7 for academic year 1997-98 awards. An additional group of assistantship awards are available for faculty-student research during the summer of 1988. The deadline is Dec. 1.

All of the awards will be made on a competitive basis. For further information, contact Children's Studies director, Arlie Woodrum, at 496-4806.