Wednesday, March 26th: Pegi Deitz Shea
Half-hour meetings with students available 3:30-4:30 and 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Monday, April 7th: Janet Lawler
Half-hour meetings with students available 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 9th: Laura E. Williams
Half-hour meetings with students available 3:30-4:30 and 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 22nd: Raouf Mama
CLAS 217, 5:00-6:00 p.m., “From the Storyteller’s Mouth, Onto the Printed Page, and Into the Ears of Children: A Storyteller’s Creative Adventure”

All presentations are funded through the kind support of the Rightors Fund.

Course Offerings:

Graduate Course: English 497-08
Ethnic American Children’s Literature, Spring 2008
Kate Capshaw Smith

Course Description:
Although many ethnic groups in the United States have a rich historical tradition of literature for children, this course on ethnic American children’s literature focuses on contemporary texts. We will ask the following questions: How does ethnic children’s literature fit into the literary tradition? How does it fit into ethnic studies? What happens when “major” ethnic writers for adults also write for children? Does the children’s work share common thematic, stylistic, aesthetic, and political purposes with the adult? Are dividing lines between an ethnic writer’s “children’s” work and “adult” work fixed? What is the place in the academy of ethnic writers who publish mainly for a young audience? Are their purposes distinct from “crossover” writers? Writers include Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Virginia Hamilton, Linda Hogan, Francisco Jimenez, Cynthia Kadohata, Pat Mora, Nicholasa Mohr, Walter Dean Myers, An Na, and Gene Luen Yang.

Undergraduate Courses:

Children’s Literature, English 200, Summer 2008
Emily Cormier, M/W 1:00-4:15

Children’s Literature, English 3420, Fall 2008
Kate Capshaw Smith, T/Th 11:00-12:15

This course examines the features of the modern canon of children’s literature, analyzing children’s books both as works of art and as powerful cultural influences. The class begins by studying landmark fairy tales like Cinderella, Puss-in-Boots, and Sleeping Beauty, noting their roots in oral culture as well as their significance to contemporary child readers. We will then turn to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the “golden age” of children’s literature. By examining Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Daddy Long-Legs,and Winnie-the-Pooh, we will gain a sense of the historical and ideological currents that fashioned this important moment in children’s literary history. We will examine the interaction of text and image in Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are. We will also investigate the role of children’s literature to the Harlem Renaissance by reading poems by Langston Hughes, pageants by schoolteachers, and didactic material by prominent religious and political figures. Finally, we will explore modern canon formation by considering issues of ethnicity, taboo, and form in contemporary children’s books. Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust, Walter Dean Myers’s Monster, Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone should offer much fodder for lively discussions about our vision of modern children’s literature. Please note that this is not a course in pedagogical strategy. Although we may discuss the interaction of text and reader, we will not concentrate on teaching practices. The course is intended to expand your critical appreciation of children’s literature.

Young Adult Literature, English 3422, Fall 2008
Emily Cormier, T 5:00-7:30
(past description)
This course examines literary constructions of adolescence. We will explore questions like, “What constitutes a young adult text?,” “Can or should there be a canon of young adult literature?,” “How does young adult literature cross boundaries of audience and genre?,” “How does young adult literature differ from children’s literature?,” and “How do social and political contexts influence the construction and reception of young adult texts?” We will investigate issues of collective and individual identity formation, dimensions of young adult texts (like violence and sexuality) that rupture conventions of children’s literature and kindle censorship, and problems of generic boundaries and border crossings. We will pay particular attention to the origins of young adult literature as a genre, as well as to ethnicity and gender in contemporary books. We will be sensitive to the historical and cultural context for each text. Our readings will include critical and theoretical texts in addition to primary sources.

Children’s Literature Association

Diversity Committee – Links and Information

For questions about the undergraduate and graduate programs in Children’s Literature, please contact Kate Capshaw Smith: capshaw@uconn.edu
Office: CLAS 136
Office Phone: 860-486-4048