Open Position: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children’s Literature

The Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor with expertise in culturally and linguistically diverse children’s literature and additional strengths in reading and writing pedagogies and/or assessment for P-8 students.
This Tenure Track Assistant Professor will be affiliated with the Literacies and Children’s Literature (LCL) program area in the department and is expected to contribute to our legacy of faculty who have influenced the field of children’s literature and literacy education. We are seeking a colleague whose scholarship in children’s literature and literacy education is grounded in cultural relevance, social justice, and anti-racist pedagogies. This is a full-time, nine-month, tenure-track position that begins in August 2024.
Responsibilities include the following:
▪ Have an active research agenda that contributes to the scholarly advancement and reputation in the field of children’s literature and literacy education;
▪ Seek and secure external funding for research;
▪ Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in children’s literature and literacy education (face-to-face, online, and/or blended);
▪ Mentor and advise graduate students;
▪ Engage in departmental, college, university, and professional service; and
▪ Contribute to our annual Georgia Children’s Book Awards and Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature events as well as other university and community partnerships.
Required Qualifications
▪ A doctorate (Ph.D. or equivalent) in children’s literature, literacy education, or a related field by the August 2024 start date. ABDs will be considered if the degree is awarded by the August 2024 start date.
▪ Evidence of emerging high-impact scholarship;
▪ Evidence of strong potential for obtaining external funding to support research programs; and
▪ A minimum of one year of university teaching as an instructor of record or as a teaching assistant
Preferred Qualifications
 Evidence of scholarly expertise in culturally and linguistically diverse children’s literature;
 Evidence of incorporating diverse children’s literature into P-5 curricula;
 A minimum of two years of P-5 outreach or teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse schools or communities;
 Evidence of secured research funding; and
 A minimum of one year of university and professional service as a faculty member or graduate student
Salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Applications must be submitted through https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/341827

and must include the following documents:
 Letter of application specifically responsive to the position’s responsibilities and required qualifications as described above;
 A curriculum vita;
 Two recent publications (in-press acceptable);
 A statement that discusses and documents how your scholarship reflects the mission statements of the Mary Frances Early College of Education and the University of Georgia.
 The names, university affiliation, and email addresses of three people who can provide letters of reference. References will not be contacted until the search committee has corresponded with the applicant.
Please note that official transcripts and a syllabus example will be requested at a later date.
Questions may be addressed to the Search Committee Chair: Dr. Jennifer Graff (jgraff@uga.edu).
The search committee will give first consideration to complete applications submitted by October 23, 2023. Application reviews will continue until the position is filled.

About The Literacies and Children’s Literature’s (LCL) Program Area
The Literacies and Children’s Literature (LCL) program area offers the following degrees: M.A. in Education, M.Ed. in Reading Education, Ed.S. in Education, and Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education. The Department’s online M.Ed. in Reading Education with an Emphasis in New and Digital Literacies is designed for certified teachers and literacy education professionals. LCL is committed to further serving our programmatic and student needs through the addition of a scholar who adds to our epistemological and methodological approaches. The LCL program area is responsible for two annual, state-wide literacy experiences: the Georgia Children’s Book Awards and the Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature.

Open Positions at the University of Memphis (US)

The Department of English at the University of Memphis is hiring in Contemporary African American Literature and Culture and the position description also mentions secondary specializations in children’s and young adult literatures and cultures: The Department of English at the University of Memphis invites applications for a full-time, tenure track position in Contemporary African American literature with a sub-specialty in one or more of the following categories: Children’s literature, Afrofuturism, digital humanities, music and literature, queer theory and literature. The position is at the Assistant Professor level beginning August 2024. For more information on how to apply, please follow this link:  https://workforum.memphis.edu/postings/37947
Applications will be accepted through the end of October.
The Department of English at the University of Memphis is also hiring in Southern Literatures (with a very open-ended descriptionpotentially could be interpreted as Literatures and Cultures of the Global South. For more information on how to apply, please follow this link: https://workforum.memphis.edu/postings/37930

CFP: Young Adult + Series + Romance (proposal deadline December 1)

2023 marks the fortieth anniversary of the initial publication of Sweet Valley High. While Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield may rank amongst the best-known teen romance heroines, the texts themselves exist within a much larger pantheon of series books intended for or read by teens, and featuring romance narratives. The Journal of Popular Romance Studies (JPRS) seeks articles for a special issue devoted to young adult series romance. These articles may focus on YA series romance from any historical period or language context, and may derive from any relevant discipline, including interdisciplinary approaches.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

· the relationship between young adult literature, series novels, and popular romance

· ideology within YA series romance

· literary precursors to YA series romance

· midcentury series romances aimed at teens

· 80s and 90s teen romance series, such as Wildfire, Young Love, First Love, or Sweet Dreams series

· legacies of Sweet Valley High or other YA series romance in current YA romance

· positive or problematic representations of identity (including race, gender, sexuality, and disability) within YA series romance

· YA series romance in global perspective

· sex (or potentially the lack of sex) in YA romance series

· ghostwriters and/or corporate constructions of teen romance series

· teen responses to YA romance series

· YA romance series within fanworks and fandom

· teacher or librarian reaction to and/or use of YA romance series

· pedagogical approaches to using YA romance series within the classroom (at any level)

Please send proposals of no more than 500 words, as well as a short bio, to Amanda K. Allen, YA Section Editor, at aallen36@emich.edu. The deadline for proposals is December 1, 2023.

If chosen, final articles should be no more than 10,000 words, including notes and bibliography, and will be due June 1, 2024. Please note that all research articles submitted to this special issue of JPRS will undergo peer review via a double blind, pre-publication peer review policy. Researchers also have the option to participate in our open peer review pilot, should they be interested in a review process in which author and reviewer identity is known to all participants at all stages of peer review. All editorial policies are available on the JPRS site: www.jprstudies.org.

About JPRS: The Journal of Popular Romance Studies (JPRS) is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal publishing concise and well-written contributions to the study of popular romance media (e.g., love songs; romantic fiction and chick-lit; romance in film and TV, in comics and graphic novels, in memoir and life-writing, in fanfic and other forms of transformative culture,

etc.). We also publish articles on the logics, institutions, and social practices of romantic love in global popular culture.

For more information about this special issue, or about publishing other research in JPRS related to any aspect of young adult romance, please contact Amanda K. Allen at aallen36@emich.edu.

International conference in Children’s Literature and Translation Studies (CLTS)

New Voices in Children’s Literature in Translation: Culture, Power and Transnational Approaches

22-23 August 2024, Stockholm (Sweden) Deadline for abstract: 30 November 2023

Call for Papers

This conference is organized by a collaboration between Stockholm University, Uppsala University (Sweden), Heriot-Watt University (UK) and the Children In Translation Network at the University of Galway (Ireland) to promote the intersection between Children’s Literature and Translation Studies. We understand this intersection as a space that includes the translation of all forms of multimodal fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults or what Borodo (2007) refers to as “Child-centered Translation Studies” in desire to broaden the field of study to different media. The field of children’s literature has proved a fertile ground for research in translation in recent decades, but the time has come to take stock of past developments and innovations to forge new theoretical and practical paths for the future development of the discipline. Drawing from the first interdisciplinary conference organized in Belgium by KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp in 2017, our goal is to solidify what has been achieved so far and to provide a space for discussion on the future of children’s literature in translation. This workspace will serve as a forum for practitioner and academic voices to work together to share new ideas and to further shape the arena for the discipline. We invite individual and panel proposals on a broad range of topics integrating Translation Studies and Children’s Literature Studies with a focus on new approaches, creative technologies and the future of translation for children and young adults.

We are especially keen on contributions in the following themes: 1. How translation redefines texts and media for children and young adults 2. Transnational approaches (i.e. investigating translation flows, the role of institutions, agents, translators, publishers, critics and other mediators) 3. The pragmatics of translating 4. Translingualism, Intermedial and multimodal translation 5. Ethics, ideology and power in translation 6. Reception studies 7. Representation, diversity and inclusivity in translation Presentations are expected to be no longer than 20 minutes. Proposals for posters will be considered. Post-graduate and early career researcher proposals are encouraged.

Please send your proposal (max. 300 words) including 5 keywords and a short biography (max. 70 words) by 30th November 2023 to https://forms.gle/YwiwHSdQmvTrKRh58.

Notice of acceptance will be given in February/March 2024.

Link: https://cltsconference.wordpress.com/

Contact: cltsconf@gmail.com

Keynote speakers: Vanessa Leonardi (Sapienza University Rome, Italy), Michał Borodo (Kazimierz Wielki University, Poland)

Invited honorary speakers: Emer O’Sullivan (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany), Gillian Lathey (University of Roehampton, United Kingdom)

Organizing committee (also in the scientific committee): Pilar Alderete Diez (University of Galway, Ireland), Valérie Alfvén (Stockholm University, Sweden), Owen Harrington Fernández (Heriot-Watt university, United Kingdom), Charlotte Lindgren (Uppsala University, Sweden), Sara Van Meerbergen (Stockholm University, Sweden), Scientific Committee Cecilia Alvstad (Østfold university college, Norway), Marcus Axelsson (Østfold university college, Norway), Elke Brems (KU Leuven, Belgium), Ines Costa (University of Aveiro, Portugal), Audrey Coussy (McGill university, Canada), Reglindis De Ridder (Stockholm University, Sweden), Vanessa Joosen (Antwerp University), Yvonne Lindqvist (Stockholm University, Sweden), Jack McMartin (KU Leuven, Belgium), Elin Svahn (Stockholm University, Sweden), Julia Lin Thompson (University of Sydney, Australia)

Conference partly financed by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond: https://www.rj.se/en/

Call for Papers: Communication in the Worlds of Children and Youth: Imagination, Language, Performance, and Creative Expression

When considering the worlds of children, researchers may start with communication as a site of inquiry, examining how children and youth share their experiences and perceptions of places, people, ideas, and more through the use of language, performance, and other creative expressions. Communication is also a methodological concern in terms of how child- and youth-focused researchers generate information about and convey communication from or with children and youth. NEOS invites submissions that speak to imagination, expression, and the senses in terms of how children know, experience, and express their perception of the present and envision the future. Submissions may also reflect these themes as they pertain to child-focused methods such as creative approaches that engage with the sensory, multimodal, performative, and participatory.

We invite a range of child and youth studies scholars to submit manuscripts for this issue, and this call for proposals may be of particular interest to (a) communication and performance scholars working with young people, (b) linguistic anthropologists working with young people and language, and (c) ethnographers or child/youth-focused researchers who engage in imaginative and experimental methods concerning how children communicate. Authors may want to consider more multimodal and imaginative inclusions within their text, such as drawings or visual displays of data or findings.

We invite submissions that focus on primary and original research around the themes of the issue: Imagination, Communication, and Expression

• Young people’s imaginative expressions of the present or future that may include and extend beyond engagements with play or leisure

• Children’s engagement with language including language learning, development, socialization, and change

• Exploration of children’s and youths’ perceptions of their worlds and less-than-expected or unexpected means of expression through verbal, bodily, or silent forms of communicating Participatory, Multimodal, and Expressive Methods

• Child- and youth-focused projects that apply and push the conventions of ethnography especially concerning multimodal communication

• The opportunities and challenges of visual and sensory methods in research with young people

• Creative methods that speak to children’s and youths’ “participation” in research and knowledge production including participatory action research, community-based research, and theater or performance-focused projects

• Co-written or co-produced ethnography (as genre) with young people

We invite short-form original research articles (1,200 words max, excluding references) that address the issue’s theme. NEOS also welcomes short pieces (1,200 words max, excluding references) on scholarship and applied research that uplifts racial, economic, and social justice and the dismantling of systemic oppression for a dedicated standing column on anti-racism and equity in child and youth studies. NEOS is an open-access publication of the Anthropology of Children and Youth Interest Group (ACYIG) of the American Anthropological Association (AAA). We publish research on childhood and youth from scholars working across the four fields of anthropology, as well from those interdisciplinary fields in conversation with anthropological theories and methods. Articles published in NEOS undergo a doubleanonymous peer-review process. The deadline for submissions is August 16, 2023 (end of the day). Rolling submissions prior to August 16th are also welcome.  While not required, authors are encouraged to submit a brief message about their intent to submit to the Co-Editors by August 2nd, 2023. The NEOS Editorial Team may be reached at acyig.editor@gmail.com

Visit our website for further information on NEOS, as well as submission guidelines and instructions. You may access the submission portal for the Fall 2023 issue here.

CFP: Literature and the Video Essay

CFP: Literature and the Video Essay. Researching and Teaching Literature Through Moving Images

Editors: Adriana Margareta Dancus (University of South-Eastern Norway) and Alan O’Leary (Aarhus University)

This special issue explores how the video essay can function as an academic and pedagogic resource in the study and teaching of literature.
The project seeks to bring together literary and film studies in a new way and targets children’s and youth literature.

Literature and literature instruction are central components in the language subjects. In this special issue, we use the term ‘literature’ in a broad sense to encompass narratives in different genres and media, including picture books, comics, feature and documentary films, narrative apps, and computer games with an intrinsic aesthetical value. Didactic perspectives on literature encompass questions about why and how to teach literature as well as what literary texts to choose from in the language subjects. Further, we adopt a ‘performative’ approach to research whereby the video essay is conceived as a form that generates new theoretical and analytical insights.

Contributors will produce own video essays (5-12 minutes) accompanied by an academic guiding text between 1000-1500 words that fleshes out the relevance of the topic, positions the video essay in a larger academic context, and provides critical reflections on the process of making the video essay.

We welcome contributions in English, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish.

Abstracts (300 words) and a one page-mood board which visualizes the project should be sent to Adriana.M.Dancus@usn.no by May 31, 2023.

For more information: https://journals.hiof.no/index.php/ELLA/announcement/view/3

Postdoctoral Research Associate Program

Please find the original posting here:
https://ischool.illinois.edu/research/postdoctoral-researchers

The Postdoctoral Research Associate program in the iSchool seeks to provide mentoring and community support to prepare candidates for tenure-stream assistant professor or other permanent appointments inside and outside of academia. Program participants will be given an opportunity to build both their research agenda and their teaching experience under the guidance of a faculty mentor, who will provide individual guidance and support. iSchool-supported postdocs will teach up to one course per semester and serve on at least one service committee.

The School opens both a general call for applicants on an annual cycle each January and off-cycle calls for grant-funded opportunities associated with specific faculty researchers. Watch our jobs page for the latest opportunities.

For questions or further information, please email ischool-postdoc@illinois.edu.

Guidelines

  • The applicant must have obtained their Ph.D. prior to July 1, 2023.
  • Postdocs are normally appointed for one year, starting August 16, 2023, and can be reappointed for a second year.
  • Recipients must be in residence full-time for the duration of the award period.

Application

Applications are submitted through an online form.

Materials should include:

  • Current CV
  • Statement of interest, including reference to any courses the applicant could teach
  • Names of up to three potential iSchool faculty mentors, including any existing relationships
  • Individual Development Plan
  • Mentoring plan, to be developed with potential faculty mentor

Stipend

  • The stipend for the 2023-2024 year is at least $60,000 (for a 12-month appointment) commensurate with experience and responsibilities and includes health benefits.
  • An additional $2,000 is provided for research, travel, and related expenses.

Appointments

Postdoctoral research associates are normally appointed for one year, starting August 16, and can be reappointed for a second year. Off-cycle appointments are possible, and alternative timelines are negotiated on an as-needed basis.
Details about funding and benefits are provided in position descriptions when they are posted.
Renewal Process
Applicants wishing to be considered for a second year in the program will be asked to provide plans for future work as part of their annual report. If an invitation to renew is offered, selected participants will be given a deadline by which to state their intention to return or not.

Job opportunity: Assistant Director, Center for Children’s Books – School of Information Sciences Urbana, IL, United States

Please see the original job ad here:

https://illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/1456?c=illinois

Assistant Director, Center for Children’s Books – School of Information Sciences

School of Information Sciences

Urbana, IL, United States

Job Summary
The School of Information Sciences (iSchool) seeks an Assistant Director, Center for Children’s Books (CCB) to work with the Director of the Center and the Editor of the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books to develop and implement strategies to retain and grow the CCB’s reputation as a national leader in youth librarianship, children’s materials, and the Youth-Information-Technology triad.

Duties & Responsibilities

Scholarly publications development:

Select digital platform for multimedia student review journal.

Create policy and procedures around a student-driven, staff-guided born-digital book and media review journal to be published semi-annually as a complement to the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

Editorial Management:

Work with editor of the Bulletin and student leadership to screen new books received (approximately 5000 a year) to select for review those texts that will best complement the titles reviewed by the Bulletin (e.g., new voices, perspectives, presses).

In coordination with student leadership, manage and edit all reviews for publication, including but not limited to proofreading, copy editing, and issue production.

Maintain an extensive knowledge of the genre of children’s literature, its history, its context, and its contemporary characteristics.

Teaching:

Serve as the teacher of record for IS 563 CL, a course on reviewing children’s literature, twice each calendar year.

Collaborate with Academic Affairs in vetting and supervising adjunct instructors teaching 563 CL – “Reviewing Children’s Literature.”

Supervise adjunct instructors of IS 563 CL to ensure curricular consistency and optimum student experience.

Creation, implementation, and promotion of engagement and professional development

Programming:

Design and implement outreach programming and professional development opportunities for CCB stakeholders (iSchool students and faculty, librarians, teachers, parents, youth, authors, researchers).

Collaborate with the iSchool communications staff to promote on social media and print media the CCB’s new and ongoing initiatives.
Physical Demands

  • Sitting : Frequently
  • Reaching : Rarely
  • Grip/Dexterity : Frequently
  • Talking : Frequently
  • Hearing : Frequently
  • Repetitive Motions : Frequently for computer usage
  • Visual Acuity : Frequently for computer usage

Additional Physical Demands
Work is performed in a general office environment.

Working Conditions

  • Humidity : Rarely
  • Temperature Changes : Occasionally

 

 

Minimum Qualifications
• MSLIS or master’s degree in a related field. • One year of experience in scholarly publications, database management and social media management. • Two years of teaching experience. • Two years of book reviewing experience.

Preferred Qualifications
• Significant book reviewing experience.
• Youth Services Librarianship and/or Youth Literature experience.
• Adult education/professional development experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

 

  • Strong project management and communication skills.
  • Excellent teaching record.
  • Deep knowledge of contemporary youth literature and media.
  • Ability to work independently and collaboratively with cross-functional teams.

 

 

Appointment Information
This is a 100% full-time Academic Professional position, appointed on a 12-month basis. The expected start date is as soon as possible after 2/28/2023. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Application Procedures & Deadline Information
Applications must be received by 6:00 pm (CST) on 2/15/2022. Apply for this position using the Apply Now button at the top or bottom of this posting. Applications not submitted through https://jobs.illinois.edu will not be considered. For further information about this specific position, please contact Sara Schwebel. For questions regarding the application process, please contact 217-333-2137.

IRSCL Book Award 2022- Applications open

 

This is a call to nominate books for consideration for the IRSCL Book Award 2022. Books considered for the 2022 award must have been published during the period 2020-2022, must not have been nominated for an earlier IRSCL competition, and must deal with research on children’s literature or other forms of cultural texts for young people. Authors can nominate their own books, or IRSCL members can nominate books by other members, as long as those nominating books and the authors of nominated books are IRSCL members whose membership is up to date. Please also note that books authored by the current members of the IRSCL Board are not eligible for the Award.

There are two categories in the competition. One for monographs and one for edited volumes. Please email nominations to Melanie Braith (m.braith@uwinnipeg.ca) cc: to Lorraine Kerslake: kerslake@ua.es) before January 15, 2022, along with an electronic copy of the book (preferred) or, if this is not possible, two copies of the book or confirmation that you have arranged for publishers to send nominated books directly to Melanie (address below). If the book has been published electronically and is available through open access, please include the link in your nomination. Please remember to cc: Lorraine Kerslake (kerslake@ua.es) in your email.

Contact details are as follows:

Melanie Braith

Mailing address for hard copies of books:

The University of Winnipeg
CRYTC, Attn. Melanie Braith
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9
Canada

Open Position: Assistant Professor in Global/Transnational Children’s Literature and Childhood Studies

To see the original posting and to apply, go to:
Assistant Professor in Global/Transnational Children’s Literature and Childhood Studies (Literature Program, English Department)
English  Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh  (22007603)
 The Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor in Global/Transnational Children’s Literature and Childhood Studies to begin in Fall 2023, pending budgetary approval.

We seek candidates with teaching and scholarly expertise in literature, arts, or media for children beyond or in addition to Europe and North America, including in languages other than English. Possible areas of interest include (but are not limited to) transnational circulation, post/decoloniality, and/or translation. We are especially interested in applications from scholars who develop a global perspective on urgent questions about race, gender, disability, and other facets of social justice that are central to contemporary children’s literature studies. The successful candidate will have opportunities for leadership and participation in a growing international partnership bringing together children’s literature scholars in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty and curriculum, and candidates should identify their strengths or experiences in this area. The person hired for this position will teach courses in a thriving interdisciplinary undergraduate program in children’s literature and culture, as well as a wide range of other undergraduate literature courses and graduate seminars in their areas of scholarly interest.

Applicants must hold a PhD in English, Literature, or a related field by the time of appointment (September 1, 2023). This position comes with a 2/2 teaching load, with the expectation of service to the Children’s Literature Program and the English Department.

To apply, please supply the following materials by November 1, 2022.

  • Cover letter
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Statement of diversity (1-2 pp.) that demonstrates your past and/or potential contributions to diversity and inclusion through teaching, research, and service

As candidates progress through the search process, the committee may request:

  • Writing sample
  • Teaching portfolio
  • Three confidential letters of recommendation

Please contact Sarah Elizabeth Baumann, Office Manager and Assistant to the Chair of English, 526 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, with any questions: sebaumann@pitt.edu. You can also contact Courtney Weikle-Mills, Search Committee Chair, Director of Children’s Literature, and Associate Professor of English, at caw57@pitt.edu for information.

The University of Pittsburgh requires all Pitt constituents (employees and students) on all campuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved exemption. Visit coronavirus.pitt.edu to learn more about this requirement.

  The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and values equality of opportunity, human dignity and diversity. EOE, including disability/vets. The University of Pittsburgh requires all Pitt constituents (employees and students) on all campuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved exemption. Visit coronavirus.pitt.edu to learn more about this requirement. 

Assignment Category Full-time regular
Campus Pittsburgh
Required Attachments Cover Letter, Curriculum Vitae, Other (see posting for additional details)
Optional Attachments Letters of Recommendation, Other (see posting for additional details)