Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Georgetown University/Children's Literature, ENGL 2370-01 (Spring 2026)
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- Course name
- Children's Literature, ENGL 2370-01
- Institution
- Georgetown University
- Instructor
- Fuiszl
- Wikipedia Expert
- Brianda (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Books
- Course dates
- 2026-01-08 00:00:00 UTC – 2026-05-13 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 28
This course will examine works written or published intentionally for a young audience, and we will consider how the texts imagine the child as both subject and reader. We’ll immerse ourselves in a variety of genres -- including board books, picture books, fairytales, poetry, chapter books, and novels -- to think about what’s distinctive about books written and published for children. We’ll read canonical works (like Peter Pan) as well as lesser known works. Although we will focus mainly on US children’s literature, we will begin by surveying the origins and development of children’s literature. We’ll think about the historic lack of diversity in children’s literature in terms of representation and how that may be changing.
Questions we’ll investigate include: How do illustrations function in the texts? How have beliefs about children changed over time and what does contemporary children’s literature reveal about our current historical moment? What forms of childhood are privileged and normalized in these books? What social issues are addressed and which are ignored by children’s literature? How are animals and nature represented in this literature? Together, we’ll consider the cultural work children’s literature performs, tying our investigation into larger discussions about whose stories get told and why that matters. For our final project, in keeping with Georgetown University’s theme of Hoyas for Others, we’ll embrace the concept of “Writing for Others,” in which student work will be directed towards a public audience and adapted to meet the goals, guidelines, and ethos of English Wikipedia. In other words, we’ll share what we’ve learned by creating new content in Wikipedia on topics related to children’s literature.