Youth Studies Major
The Youth Studies 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.
See the Video Viewbook for the UMN School of Social Work Youth Studies Undergraduate Major
This is a interdisciplinary program that explores the social construction of youth and our responses. 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 youthhood
- Engage and learn about the everyday lives of youth
- Leave prepared to imagine and engage in a range of youthwork 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
Interactive Learning, Interactive Classrooms
Our classes provide interactive spaces, reliant on curiosity, action, dialogue, experience, critical reflection and collaboration. We believe that learning happens inside and outside of the classroom and that learning isn’t a one-way street.
In the Youth Studies program, you will be in communities and communities will be in the classroom; you will be putting what you've learned to work in projects like: community-engaged learning, university-community professional development partnerships, and evaluation of programs with and for youth.
Students in a youth studies class.
Students, in experiential learning class, canoeing on Bde Mka Ska.
Students participating in a theater class.
Prepare for a Teaching Career with the CEHD DirecTrack Program
The Youth Studies degree is also a pathway to becoming a licensed 5-12 Social Studies teacher through the DirecTrack to Teaching program. For questions please contact Jehanne Beaton, DirecTrack to Education Coordinator or Rae Dillon, Youth Studies Academic Advisor.
If you are passionate about improving young lives, a major in Youth Studies will help you gain the knowledge and resources you need to reach your goals. As a Youth Studies major, you can start making a difference the moment you get to campus.
Questions about applying? You can schedule a one-on-one appointment with Academic Advisor, Rae Dillon.