Vocation of the Child?

As a corrective of, supplement to, or foundation for an emergent consensus about the "rights of the child," the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University is sponsoring  -- with the material and personal support of the Templeton Foundation -- a study of "The Vocation of the Child."  This study, which will form one volume in the Center's massive study of "The Child in Law, Religion, and Society," aims to bring the nature and responsibility of young human beings into historical, philosophical, and theological perspective.  The contributors to the project met at Emory late last week for a closed-door session in which thirteen papers were presented in outline.  Here are the titles and presenters, in the order of presentation:  Marcia Bunge (Valparaiso), "Biblical Perspectives on the Vocation of the Child;"  William Harmless S.J. (Creigton), "Christ the Pediatrician:  Infant Baptism and Christology in the Pelagian Controversy:"  John Coons (Boalt Hall), "The Vocation of the Child;"  Charles Glenn (Boston University), "Parental Expression;"  James Keenan S.J. (Boston College), "When Does a Child Become a Decision Maker?;"  H. David Baer (Texas Lutheran U.), "Mister Rogers on the Work of Childhood;"  Patrick Brennan (Villanova), "Maritain on the Child: A Measured Measure;"  John Witte Jr., " Calling Reverend Spock: The Vocation of the Child in the Household Manual Tradition;"  Charles Reid (St. Thomas, Minnesota), "The Rights of the Child in Mediaeval Law;"  George van Grieken F.S.C. (Christian Brothers High School, Sacramento), "The Vocation of the Child in Lasallian Pedagogy;"  Vigen Guroian, "The Office of Childhood in the Christian Faith;"  Paul Vitz (NYU), "The Religious Psychology of Childhood;"  William Werpehowski (Villanova), "In Search of Real Children: Innocence, Absence, and Becoming a Self in Christ."  Bonnie Miller-McLemore (Vanderbilt will also contribute a chapter to the volume, though she was unable to join in the recent session in Atlanta.  Stephen Post (Case Western) shared in the Emory session and enriched it with perspectives medical, theological, and philosophical. 

Suggestions about what a study of "The Vocation of the Child" should cover, and from what angles, will be gratefully received by me.  I am privileged to serve as one of two co-directors of this project, and over the next two months we'll be canvassing more of the literature in hope of making our volume speak to the status quaestionis.

And yes, we owe this, too, to John Witte, that indefatigable and unfailingly generous generator of truly "binocular" work in law and religion.  Where we would be without his industry, I tremble to imagine.