Welcome to the Fall 2013 semester at the National Center for the Study of Children's Literature at San Diego State University! The last year has been an incredibly active one for the blog; my colleague Jill Coste and I, Alya Hameed, found great pleasure in contributing to the conversation about children's literature and sharing the wealth of activity in children's lit occurring at SDSU and San Diego at large. This year, I am happy to continue the task with my new colleague Kelsey Wadman (Jill graduated last year -- many congratulations to her!). Kelsey and I are excited
to keep rolling with regular posts about all the provocative things going
on in the field of Children's Literature. Along with the director of the
Center, Dr. Joseph T. Thomas, Jr. (who claims to be on sabbatical this semester), interim director Dr. Phillip Serrato, and the other children's literature
faculty here at SDSU, we are delighted to participate in the ongoing online exploration of children's literature.
Along with this blog, the Center is happy to continue the work started by Dr. Alida Allison, who established the Children's Literature Book Review service, which has an archive of hundreds of reviews here. Following Dr. Allison's example, we want to uphold the same level of enthusiasm for and commitment to the Center for Children's Literature as she has demonstrated; maintaining the reviews is the first step and we look forward to new experiences.
About the Bloggers:
Once again, my name is Alya Hameed, now working for my second year at the Children's Lit Center. I am also a second-year graduate student working toward an M.A. in English Literature. While at the Center I have enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to review books and participate in special events here. If you follow the blog, you've heard plenty about the SDSU ChildLit Grad Student Association and The Unjournal of Children's Literature, an organization and scholarly journal I co-founded (with a remarkable set of peers). I've presented a paper on feminine place and identity at a Southwest Popular and American Culture Conference, have interned for the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and participated in a number of children's lit-related campus events. I've also seen my interests simultaneously broaden and find new focus; still with an eye on multicultural texts, I've found a home in researching geography and the many iterations of space in children's literature, with a penchant for maps from both fantasy and realist fiction. Feminism and of course food are still big interests too, and I hope to introduce and explore new facets of children's lit through those lenses. You might even catch a glimpse of my literary-food blog. Maybe.
And now, on to my peer and friend, Kelsey Wadman:
Hello there! Much like Alya, I am a second year M.A. candidate specializing in children's literature and am enjoying taking advantage of every opportunity SDSU has to offer. Last year I had the pleasure of serving as the ChildLit GSA's first President and co-founded the aforementioned Unjournal. This summer I took up snorkeling in La Jolla Cove, learned how to bake a strawberry rhubarb pie, and attended the 40th annual conference of the Children's Literature Association where I presented a paper on trauma in Disney's Tangled (although the best part of the conference was visiting with friends of the NCSCL, such as Kenneth Kidd, Lissa Paul, and Richard Flynn -- literally some of the nicest people you could ever meet!). My academic interests include fairy tales and trauma narratives, particularly depictions of domestic abuse in children's lit; however, I'm helplessly curious about every aspect of children's literature, from the community here in San Diego to Perry Nodelman's blog on salt and pepper shakers. I'm looking forward to sharing my quirks and finds on the blog!
Along with this blog, the Center is happy to continue the work started by Dr. Alida Allison, who established the Children's Literature Book Review service, which has an archive of hundreds of reviews here. Following Dr. Allison's example, we want to uphold the same level of enthusiasm for and commitment to the Center for Children's Literature as she has demonstrated; maintaining the reviews is the first step and we look forward to new experiences.
About the Bloggers:
Once again, my name is Alya Hameed, now working for my second year at the Children's Lit Center. I am also a second-year graduate student working toward an M.A. in English Literature. While at the Center I have enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to review books and participate in special events here. If you follow the blog, you've heard plenty about the SDSU ChildLit Grad Student Association and The Unjournal of Children's Literature, an organization and scholarly journal I co-founded (with a remarkable set of peers). I've presented a paper on feminine place and identity at a Southwest Popular and American Culture Conference, have interned for the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and participated in a number of children's lit-related campus events. I've also seen my interests simultaneously broaden and find new focus; still with an eye on multicultural texts, I've found a home in researching geography and the many iterations of space in children's literature, with a penchant for maps from both fantasy and realist fiction. Feminism and of course food are still big interests too, and I hope to introduce and explore new facets of children's lit through those lenses. You might even catch a glimpse of my literary-food blog. Maybe.
And now, on to my peer and friend, Kelsey Wadman:
Hello there! Much like Alya, I am a second year M.A. candidate specializing in children's literature and am enjoying taking advantage of every opportunity SDSU has to offer. Last year I had the pleasure of serving as the ChildLit GSA's first President and co-founded the aforementioned Unjournal. This summer I took up snorkeling in La Jolla Cove, learned how to bake a strawberry rhubarb pie, and attended the 40th annual conference of the Children's Literature Association where I presented a paper on trauma in Disney's Tangled (although the best part of the conference was visiting with friends of the NCSCL, such as Kenneth Kidd, Lissa Paul, and Richard Flynn -- literally some of the nicest people you could ever meet!). My academic interests include fairy tales and trauma narratives, particularly depictions of domestic abuse in children's lit; however, I'm helplessly curious about every aspect of children's literature, from the community here in San Diego to Perry Nodelman's blog on salt and pepper shakers. I'm looking forward to sharing my quirks and finds on the blog!
We're all in for an outstanding year of blogs, reviews, professional presentations, more of the grad-student generated UnJournal of Children's Lit, stellar guest speakers-- so thanks and ongoing kudos for our truly remarkable Children's Lit grad students. Best wishes to all colleagues and students for the no-doubt-exciting 2013-2014 academic year... and beyond.
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