Children's Literature (MA)

Description

The Master of Arts (MA) degree in Children’s literature offers specialized study of literature for children and young adults to students who are, or who intend to be, involved in teaching, library work, editing, publishing, writing, affiliated professions, and/or further research and scholarship in the field.

Learning Outcomes

Students leave Master of Arts (MA) in Children's Literature with an expansive knowledge of and familiarity with a deep body of historical and contemporary literature published for children and young adults, as well with a critical vocabulary for inquiry and critique of this literature in professional and academic contexts.

Graduates of the MA in Children’s Literature:

• situate a diversity of children’s and young adult literatures in English within historical and contemporary contexts that attend to the relationships between representation and power

• apply their understanding of historical and contemporary critical and theoretical analysis, methods of research, and close reading
• engage with cross-disciplinary writing and scholarship that shape and inform studies of literature for children and young adults
• create theoretically grounded and original arguments that demonstrate praxis and interact with and respond to scholars and professionals working across fields

Requirements for entry into program

Admission requires a baccalaureate degree, often with a major in English and American and/or comparative literature from an accredited institution. The program also welcomes applicants with study or practice in elementary or secondary education, fine arts, social sciences, or sciences and with demonstrated engagement in children’s /young adult literature. Applicants must submit official transcripts of all degree work, two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, a resume, and, for international students, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). An interview, though not required, is strongly recommended. Admission deadlines are rolling for all three semesters. A maximum of four semester hours of transfer credit will be allowed toward the degree; the petition for transfer credit is due at the time of application.

Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements (36 credits)

Full-time graduate students in the MA degree program typically carry between eight and ten credits in the fall, spring, and summer semesters after their first semester of eight credits. Students considering registering for more than ten credits per term must consult with the graduate program director.

MA Required Courses (16 credits)

CHL 401	Criticism of Literature for Children	4
CHL 403	The Picturebook	4
CHL 413	Contemporary Realistic Fiction for Young Adults	4
CHL 414	Fantasy and Science Fiction	4

MA Elective Requirements (20 credits)

CHL 4XX  History Electives	Coursework in the history of children's literature, selected from courses with a chronological focus	4 credits
Freely chosen elective courses	Freely chosen elective coursework, selected from the variety of 2- and 4-credit courses offered each semester	To total 16 credits