Dear Friends and Colleagues,

At the end of this semester I will step down as director of CCCS and focus more fully on my research and professional activities. A fellowship from NEH will afford me the opportunity to devote the next year to my current work on decision making for children with cancer when cure is not likely.

The Center has accomplished a great deal since its inception four years ago. It is well known here and abroad, and all the signs of continued growth and achievement are clearly evident. I look forward to its continued success.

As you know, the Center is dedicated to improving the lives of children through scholarship, service and education.  In a very short period of time we have managed to make tremendous strides in all of these areas.  In this past year alone, the Center launched its first public education program Remembering Childhood: Meet the Authors, Hear Their Stories; expanded the already successful Camden Campaign for Children"s Literacy to include a certification program for over 500 childcare development associates in Camden, continued the well regarded regional and associate seminar series, and disseminated the results of the Center's work on our expanded website and in our quarterly newsletter.

In addition, three new books came out in our Childhood  Studies book series published by Rutgers University Press, and Center faculty associates gave a number of presentations at professional meetings and conferences and published articles in refereed journals and chapters in books. Coming from a variety disciplines and approaches to study; our associates have furthered our understanding of various aspects of childhood and children"s experiences. Their work has also contributed to practice and policy in pediatrics, child psychology, criminal justice, law and education.

None of this work would have been possible without the generous support of our funders.  I would like to thank the Annie E. Casey, Geraldine R. Dodge, John S and James L Knight, Kurr, Fannie E. Rippel and William Penn Foundations as well as  the Camden Development Board, Campbell Soup, Johnson and Johnson Family of Companies, The Schumann Fund for New Jersey, and Verizon for their support for various Center programs and projects.  Individuals, too numerous to name here, but recorded in our newsletter and on our website, have also been critical to moving our mission forward.

Support for faculty research, central to the center"s mission, has come from:  William T. Grant, Stanley Thomas Johnson, Karma, Lindeback, Fannie E. Rippel, and Shire Foundations as well as the Addiction Technology Transfer Center, National Institutes for Health, National Institute for Mental Health and National Endowment for the Humanities.

I also would like to thank the University for its continued support of the Center, most recently:  funding for a full time associate director and newly renovated space to house the Center. Please come visit us at 405-407 Cooper Street in Camden.

Last, but certainly not least, I thank my colleagues here at the Center and in the University community for their continued support and encouragement.


With all good wishes,



Myra Bluebond-Langner

Professor  II of Anthropology
Founding Director of the Center for Children and Childhood Studies

December 2004