UF Faculty Department College
Noah Mullens Department of English College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Partner Faculty Department Partner Institution
Vera Veldhuizen Humanities University of Groningen
Title:
Investigating Controversial Children's Literature: An International Perspective
Project Description:

In this project, students collaborated with students from The Netherlands to explore controversies in children’s literature from an international and historical perspective. Students were paired with a Dutch student to analyze controversial or banned U.S. and European texts. Students were then asked to compare these books in two co-written blog posts published on a WordPress site: https://globalchildrenslit.com/

Learning Outcomes:
  • The ability to explain children’s media in terms of its aesthetic qualities and its evolving function in society.
  • To analyze the underlying power mechanics in children’s media and their potential ideological impacts.
  • To discuss the impact of implicit and explicit moral discourse through aesthetic media on identity formation.
  • To apply appropriate methodologies when analyzing children’s media or media presenting the child; combining “normative” literary/cultural methodologies with the children’s media approach.
  • To consider what “controversy” is across state and national borders.
  • To work with colleagues across differences (both in national identity and language).
  • To practice comparative approaches to children’s literature.
  • To professionally work across time zones through digital communication and platforms.
Participating Countries:
Netherlands
Number of Participants:
30 UF students, 19 Groningen students
Discipline:
English
UF Course Code & Name:
LIT4332 - Children's Literature and Controversy
Project Duration:
6 weeks
Activity Type(s):
Student-to-Student Dialogue
Student-to-Student Project
Time allotted to each activity:
Technology Tools:
Wordpress
Zoom
Qualtrics
Sequence of Activities:

Open File