Children's Literature Studies at EMU

Bruce T. Halle Library

Eastern Michigan University has been and continues to be a pioneer in Children's Literature Studies. The EMU library houses one of the largest collections of children's literature in the nation. In a speech dedicating the "Helbig Collection of Literature for Children and Young People" to the Friends of EMU's Halle Library, Alethea Helbig said those who founded Children's Literature Studies at EMU in the late 1960s. "Marjorie Miller, Helen Hill, Agnes Perkins, G.B. Cross, and herself—were instrumental in defining Children's Literature as a field of study: “Trained in literature studies, we looked at children's books somewhat differently from what had long been the case. We saw them as works of imaginative literature worthy of critical examination in their own right, rather than as handmaidens for teaching reading or other subject matter, although those are legitimate uses. And we began to discover that others elsewhere in academe were doing the same."” This philosophy still guides Children's Literature Studies at EMU, which is housed in the Department of English Language and Literature.

Currently, four full-time faculty members, three lecturers, and one Professor Emeritus, all scholars specializing in Children’s Literature, teach undergraduate courses for students enrolled in the Children’s Literature Minor or the Interdisciplinary Major in Children’s Literature and Drama/Theatre for the Young, and graduate courses for students enrolled in our M.A. Program in Children’s Literature. Students enrolled in the M.A. in Children’s Literature can complete all of their course work taking graduate courses that focus exclusively on Children’s Literature. The program has a strong base in traditional literature, mythology, folklore, and the history of children’s literature, but also works to include graduate students in current dialogues about literary and cultural theories, film studies, children's media, gender studies, multicultural children’s literature, and contemporary children’s culture. Students in the graduate program have earned fellowships and assistantships, have published works of fiction for children and adolescents, have presented papers at national and international conferences, and have gone on to doctoral programs and to positions in area schools, libraries, and community colleges: news.

Web Site Maintained by Annette Wannamaker