Daniel Dervin, professor emeritus of English, recently published his latest book, “The Digital Child,” an examination of childhood development in an advancing technological era.
Dervin’s book illustrates his concern of how contemporary childhood has moved away from the focus of inwardness, a psychological concept for the awareness of one’s self as resulting from the world, and how those reflections are internalized. Dervin believes inwardness permits the processing of an individuals’ thoughts, experiences and emotions.
In his text, Dervin traces the evolution of how childhood is perceived in the West and how inwardness has been defined throughout history. Six transformational stages of childhood are identified in his study: tribal, pedagogical, religious, humanist, rational, citizen and the newest stage, the digital child. By the referencing of myths, literary texts, cultural histories, media reports, the visual arts as well as traditions of parenting, pediatrics and pedagogy, Dervin examines each stage preceding the digital child stage.
With biological, cultural and psychological approaches to his investigation, Dervin studies the past stages of humanity in order to unveil the past—and future—of humanity.
