Studies in Children’s and Adolescent Literature Culture Graduate Certificate

An Examination of the historical, cultural ideological, aesthetic, material and critical contexts that influence and produce picture books and graphic narratives written for young readers, including a study of how words, images, and institutions shape our response to those texts.

A survey of the historical development of children’s literature i relation to its cultural, intellectual, and political contexts. Could include how British and American writers changed paradigms for and perceptions about “childhood” and “children’s literature” by developing literature that entertained and instructed young readers as well as how conditions of print culture, political change, and social status influenced the delivery and reception of the genre.

An overview of the various problems associated with adolescent literature including the problem novel and new realism, how adolescent literature is defined issues associated with censorship and the problems adolescents experience in the texts.

A study in the adaptation or appropriation of familiar or traditional story forms such as folk and fairy tales into more contemporary narrative forms including novels and film.

An overview of historical fiction and realistic literature that emphasizes the cultural and social milieu that produced the texts as represented by the genres. Particular attention will be paid to the construction of history and the social realities addressed in the texts, including ethnic, racial and global considerations.