Master of Arts in English
Program in Children's Literature
What is the Program in Children's Literature?
The Cat in the Hat, Harry Potter, Jo March, Alice, Dorothy, Lions, Witches, Wild Things, and Tesseracts.
These are some of the characters and concepts you can meet in the Program in Children's Literature at Kansas State University.
M.A. students in Children's Literature will study children's and young adult literature. A student might emphasize a particular period or region, such as nineteenth-century American literature, or a particular genre, such as picture books. Each student will work with faculty who have expertise in the area or in a field that compliments the student's focus.
Kansas State University has nationally known scholars of children's and young adult literature. We have six full-time faculty who teach children's and adolescent literature, and three of these faculty are specialists in the field.
Who should apply?
People who want to pursue children's literature at the graduate level, elementary and secondary teachers seeking professional development, and anyone who realizes -- as we do -- that it is fun to take Children's Literature seriously.
People who want to enroll full-time or part-time are welcome: professional educators, librarians, language arts instructors, and non-degree students.
How do I apply?
Prospective students may apply on-line or download the application forms from the Graduate School. If you are more comfortable with a paper application, you may request all the necessary application materials and program information from:
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of English
108 E/CS Bldg.
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-6501
Office Telephone: (785) 532-6716
FAX: (785) 532-2192
Email: gradeng@ksu.edu
Website: http://www.ksu.edu/english/programs/graduatestudies
Online Application: http://http://www.k-state.edu/grad/gsprospective/apply/
Download Application Forms: https://www.ksu.edu/grad/application/forms/informdm.htm
Request Application Forms by Email: gradeng@ksu.edu
What financial support is available?
Most students in the Program in Children's Literature are eligible to receive financial assistance in the form of Graduate Teaching Assistantships. For more information about financial aid, go to the Graduate Studies page.
Who are the faculty and what do they work on?
Greg Eiselein teaches courses in American literature and cultural studies, and he serves as the Director of Graduate Studies. With Anne Phillips, he has co-edited The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2001) and the Norton Critical Edition of Alcott’s Little Women. The life and writings of Louisa May Alcott and the impact of pragmatism and evolution on nineteenth-century American culture are his current areas of research. More information.
Carol Franko specializes in utopian and science fiction. Her current research includes an investigation into how science fiction naturalizes the supernatural, or otherwise "rewrites" supernatural worldviews, especially those associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition. More information.
Philip Nel teaches courses in children’s and young adult literature, and serves as the Director of the Program in Children’s Literature. His books include Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature (co-edited with Julia Mickenberg, NYU Press, 2008), The Annotated Cat: Under the Hats of Seuss and His Cats (Random House, 2007), Dr. Seuss: American Icon (Continuum, 2004), and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Novels: A Reader’s Guide (Continuum, 2001). Currently, he is working on Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: A Biography (UP Mississippi) and, with Lissa Paul, co-editing Keywords for Children's Literature (NYU Press). More information.
Anne Phillips specializes in American children’s and adolescent literature. With Greg Eiselein, she has co-edited The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2001) and the Norton Critical Edition of Alcott’s Little Women. Her research interests include mid-twentieth century American children’s literature and its depiction of the American homefront. Currently the Associate Department Head, Anne has served as the President of the Children’s Literature Association and chaired the MLA Division on Children's Literature. More information.
Karin Westman specializes in Twentieth-century and contemporary British literature, including children’s and young adult literature of that period. She has presented and published on contemporary British culture in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, "cross-over" or "dual-audience" literature, and information literacy and technology in pre-service teacher education. In 2005, she chaired a session at the Modern Language Association on "Children's Literature and Modernism." More information.
Naomi Wood specializes in literature for and about children with particular interest in Victorian literature and culture. She has published on Victorian fantasists, Walt Disney's Cinderella, and modern works of fantasy by Virginia Hamilton and others. She is currently engaged in a major project about Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Kingsley, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and Philip Pullman. She is chair of the Children's Literature Association Article Awards Committee 2005-08. More information.
What resources are available?
 There are over 4,400 works of children's and young adult literature in the Juvenile Literature Collection housed in the Juvenile Reading Room at Hale Library. An additional 1,000-plus works are in Hale Library's Special Collections: many of these items belong to K-State's Cookery Collection (one of the top research collections of its kind in the United States); there are also numerous items in Special Collections by or pertaining to L. Frank Baum and Louisa May Alcott, as well as pop-up, movable, and toy books from the 19th through 21st centuries. Hale Library has hundreds of reference works on Children's Literature, including several scholarly journals.
What type of courses are offered?
We offer 600-800 level courses for our graduate students. During the past 5 years, we've offered (click on each course title for more information):
- ENGL 680. 20th Century American Children's Picturebooks (Philip Nel, Fall 2005)
- ENGL 690. Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mildred Taylor, and the Shaping of American History (Anne Phillips, Spring 2006)
- ENGL 690. Topics: Children's Literature and the Left (Philip Nel, Spring 2004)
- ENGL 690. Topics: Classics in Children's Literature (Naomi Wood, Spring 2002)
- ENGL 690. Topics: American Children's Literature (Anne Phillips, Spring 2000)
- ENGL 710. Studies in Children's Literature (Naomi Wood, Spring 1999)
- ENGL 710. The Golden Age of Children's Literature (Naomi Wood, Fall 2006)
- ENGL 720. Studies in a Major Author: Louisa May Alcott and Mark Twain (Greg Eiselein, Spring 2005)
- ENGL 825. Film Adaptations of Children's Classics (Anne Phillips, Fall 2007)
- ENGL 830. Seminar: Image, Text, Ideology: Picturebooks and Illustrated Works (Philip Nel, Fall 2003)
- ENGL 830. Seminar: The Invention of Childhood (Naomi Wood, Fall 2002)
What are the degree requirements?
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3 courses in Literature
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9 hrs
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3 courses in Children's Literature
- 600- or 700-level Children's Literature courses (e.g., ENGL 690: Topics in Literature for the Young)
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9 hrs
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3 elective courses
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9 hrs
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- 1 may be ENGL 799
- 1 may be outside the Dept.
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1 seminar
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3 hrs
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30 credit hour total
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30 hours
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plus:
- language proficiency
- writing project
- oral examination
 For more information on degree requirements and policies, please visit the department's Graduate Student Handbook.
For More Information
For application materials or for more information about the Program, contact:
- Philip Nel, Director
- Program in Children’s Literature
- Department of English
- 103 ECS Building
- Kansas State University
- Manhattan, KS 66506-6501
- office: (785) 532-2165
- FAX: (785) 532-2192
- philnel@ksu.edu
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