It is rare for undergraduate students to have the opportunity to study Children’s Literature in a sustained way at the university level. Our program was pioneering in this respect. We evolved from the Carnegie Library’s flagship training school for children’s librarians and offered classes on the subject as early as 1933.
We have evolved with the times and now offer a rich interdisciplinary curriculum, whereby students take three core courses in English and another three courses across the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Recently developed elective courses include Harry Potter, Writing Youth Literature, Youth Film, Children and Media, and Children in Pittsburgh.
Our certificate provides students with a springboard for many areas of professional work and study—and students can tailor their courses to meet their interests and goals. Recently, our certificate students have gotten internships and jobs at:
Sesame Street Productions
The Fred Rogers Company
Walt Disney
Random House
Penguin Young Readers
Kumon Publishing
Scholastic Press
The Harvey Klinger Literary Agency
Heinz History Center
Many other students go to graduate programs in education, library science, law, medicine, and English.
Students work closely with faculty mentors to create customized academic plans to best suit each student's needs, plans, and interests, and our faculty members are constantly innovating and seeking out new opportunities to further develop the program to better benefit and prepare our students.
- We recently developed a new course, Englit 1635: Children in Pittsburgh, in which students learn about and conduct original research on the wide range of Pittsburgh institutions that provide cultural, literary, and artistic services and experiences to children.
- A collaboration with the Gender Sexuality and Women's Studies Program and the Humanities Center on a "Year of" programming related to the Child. We brought six eminent speakers to think with us about intersections of childhood with gender, race, queerness, and global relationships.
- Professor Tyler Bickford has adapted Englit 560: Childhood’s Books for Pitt in London. He will be teaching it there in Spring 2020, and our students will be especially encouraged to attend.