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Fall 2023 Courses

The Children's Literature Program offers an array of classic and contemporary topics in children's literature and young-adult studies.

ENGL 306A/W: Children’s Literature and Advanced Composition with Lecturer Tishna Asim

Investigate various themes in children’s literature, spanning multiple time periods, cultures, and schools of thought.  Experience many formats of literature—poetry, novel, short story, film, television show/episode, picture book—and visit many genres (fairy tale, quest/adventure narrative, problem novel, etc.) to pinpoint the purposes and pleasures within children’s literature.

What We're Reading

Prietita and the Ghost WomanPrietita and the Ghost Woman
1995
By Gloria Anzaldúa

CoralineCoraline
2002
By Neil Gaiman

A Tale Dark and GrimmA Tale Dark and Grimm
2010
By Adam Gidwitz

The Gashlycrumb TiniesThe Gashlycrumb Tinies
1963
By Edward Gorey


ENGL 306A/W: Children’s Literature and Advanced Composition with Lecturer Sequoia Stone

Read children’s literature that explores the highs and lows of coming-of-age as the protagonists of our texts work to understand and develop their identities apart from, yet still part of, their families, their friends, and their histories. Explore the role of creative expression (and art in general) in both individual identity and the world at large.

What We're Reading

New KidNew Kid
2019
By Jerry Craft

ManuA Place at the Table
2022
By Saadia Faruqi & Laura Shovan

Displacement Displacement 
2020
By Kiku Hughes

The First Rule of PunkThe First Rule of Punk
2017
By Celia C. Pérez


ENGL 501: Literature for Children with Professor Joseph Thomas

Investigate the historical moment in which the texts on this syllabus were produced as well as the implicit and explicit ideology within them. Discuss how the reception to these texts may have changed over time.

What We're Reading

Where The Wild Things AreWhere The Wild Things Are
1963
By Maurice Sendak

Roll Of Thunder Hear My CryRoll Of Thunder Hear My Cry
1976
By Mildred D. Taylor

Esperanza RisingEsperanza Rising
2000
By Pam Muñoz Ryan

Black FolktalesBlack Folktales
1969
By Julius Lester


ENGL 502: Adolescence in Literature with Professor Lashon Daley

Read middle-grade and YA novels, alongside the groundbreaking work of prominent girlhood studies scholars, in order to investigate girlhood as both a political category and a social identity.

What We're Reading

When You Trap a TigerWhen You Trap a Tiger
2020
By Tae Keller

Merci Suárez Changes Gears Merci Suárez Changes Gears 
2018
By Meg Medina

Hearts UnbrokenHearts Unbroken
2018
By Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Hate U GiveThe Hate U Give
2017
By Angie Thomas


ENGL 503: Topics in Children’s Literature with Professor Joseph Thomas

Read and discuss crucial works by J.R.R. Tolkien, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

What We're Reading

The HobbitThe Hobbit
1937
By J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings
1954
By J.R.R. Tolkien

Letters From Father ChristmasLetters From Father Christmas
1976
By J.R.R. Tolkien

Mr. BlissMr. Bliss
1982
By J.R.R. Tolkien


ENGL 606D: Precarity, Possibility Children’s Literature and YA Gothic with Professor Phillip Serrato

Learn about the efficacy of gothic as a modality for the imagination and assertion of more ameliorative forms of social existence and social relationality over and against the social horrors that it otherwise depicts.

What We're Reading

The Bungalow MysteryThe Bungalow Mystery
1930
By Carolyn Keene

The Love Curse of the RumbaughsThe Love Curse of the Rumbaughs
2006
By Jack Gantos

Ghost BoysGhost Boys
2018
By Jewell Parker Rhodes

Cirque du FreakCirque du Freak
2000
By Darren Shan