Children's and Young Adult Literature is the English Department's newest concentration, based on the recognition that current and future students have grown up with the Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Divergent series. These and other titles have positioned children's and young adult literature as significant features of the literary landscape. Hofstra is among select few colleges and universities to offer this program, the heart of which involves sequential courses on literary history and method culminating in specialized classes on topics from the child in literature to fairy tales. Children's and Young Adult Literature is an interdisciplinary program that requires students to take classes in other English concentrations, such as creative writing and publishing studies. The program also draws on coursework from other disciplines, specifically child psychology, education, and literacy studies. This concentration is geared toward students interested in careers in children's and young adult literature from writing to publishing to criticism as well as those interested in elementary education.
Students majoring in English select a concentration, either in Literatures in English, Children's and Young Adult Literature, Creative Writing and Literature, or Publishing Studies. Students who choose the Literatures in English concentration take a wide variety of courses in literature, organized around issues, authors, genres, or historical periods. Students who choose the Creative Writing and Literature concentration divide their course work between literature courses and workshops in writing prose, poetry, drama, essays, screenplays, and children's literature. Students who choose the Publishing Studies concentration divide their course work between literature courses and courses in which they study the history and practice of publishing and the skills and techniques that are essential in the publishing industry. Students who choose the Children's and Young Adult Literature concentration complete course work in literature, creative writing, publishing studies, and psychology to develop the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to the field of children's literature as writers, critics, and/or editors.
