School of Arts and Sciences
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

Applied Experience

Central to the department's mission is helping students integrate coursework and research with direct practice 'in the field'. Direct practice can mean working in educational settings, hospitals, and other environments where children and youth are continuously present and being served. It can also mean working in research, policy, and other places where children and youth may not be present (or present only on occasion), but where the work being done directly impacts the lives of children and youth.

Courses that Count Toward the Applied Experience Requirement offered in Fall, Spring, and/or Summer (please note that not all courses are available every semester):

  • CSHD 0067 – Resilience in Development: Children, Youth, and Adversity
  • CSHD 0099 - Community Field Placement *This course is offered for variable credit
  • CSHD 0100 – Child and Family Health Seminar and Fieldwork *This course is offered for variable credit
  • CSHD 0140 – Directed Research *This course is offered for variable credit
  • CSHD 0141 - Independent Study (by instructor consent and with approval of the Director of Undergraduate Program or Applied Experiences Coordinator) *This course is offered for variable credit
  • CSHD 0143 - Incarceration, Children, and Families
  • CSHD 0143 - Observing Children in Natural Settings
  • CSHD 0153 - Children's Television Project *This course is offered for variable credit
  • CSHD 0163 – Infancy: Prenatal to Age 3
  • CSHD 0167 - Creating Children's Media
  • CSHD 0174 - Designing Educational and Therapeutic Environments
  • CSHD 0181 – Advanced Seminar in Resilience: Children, Youth, and Trauma
  • A course that counts toward the applied/research experience and is offered any semester (including summer) is Fieldwork Abroad
  • It is also possible to fulfill the research/applied requirement by working in one of the Eliot-Pearson labs and receiving academic credit through an independent study.  Work in a lab outside of Eliot-Pearson might also qualify if it is work done in a lab that studies children, adolescents or families, done for academic credit, and approved by the Undergraduate Policy Committee.
  • Courses outside of CSHD may be petitioned to count as applied/research experience by sending a petition to the Director of Undergraduate Programs.
  • Applied experiences solidified outside of CSHD (e.g., internships; research assistantships) may be petitioned to count as applied/research experience by sending a petition to the Applied Experiences Coordinator.

* For courses with a variable credit option, a minimum of 3 credits is required for the course to count toward the Applied Experiences requirement.

Field Placements by Category (Partial List)

  • Applied Research Labs
  • Arts-Related Programs for Children and Youth
  • Community-Based Organizations
  • Early Intervention
  • Education/Special Education
  • Family and Youth Services
  • Healthcare
  • Juvenile Justice
  • Media
  • Museums
  • Nonprofit Organizations (NGOs)
  • Policy & Advocacy
  • Program Evaluation
  • Technology