Doctor of Philosophy in English- Childrens Literature

Why are we experiencing a prolonged cultural moment so permeated with dystopian, post-apocalyptic themesand why do many works with these themes feature and target teenagers High-concept dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels have flooded the young adult market, while literary novelists writing for adults (Atwood, Mitchell, McCarthy, Ishiguro) spin similar stories. In this seminar, we will write and think broadly about genre boundaries and narrative structure, child and teenage readers, communal responses to disaster and trauma, utopian and dystopian rhetoric, the roles of speculative fiction in our culture, and the development of the notion of adolescence in America. Well explore what elements of the idea of the American teenager survive in books that narrate the dissolution of America or its aftermath, for comparison, well also read several books set in post-apocalyptic or dystopian Britain, examine a Japanese film with interesting similarities to the popular Hunger Games series, and consider Duncan Jones's Moon as a different sort of dystopian coming-of-age story. Some shorter texts will be available on Laulima.

Texts and required materials

The books for this class will be available at Revolution Books:
The Giver, Lois Lowry
Riddley Walker, Russell Hoban
The Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
Feed, M. T. Anderson
How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
Well also watch two films Koushun Takami's Battle Royale and Duncan Jones's Moonlisten to some of Feed in audiobook form, and read additional essays, including works by Rebecca Solnit and James Berger.
Assignments (tentative, subject to change)

4 critical methods assignments (1-2 pp.)
1 short close reading paper (3-4 pp.)
Midterm exam
Final exam
Small group presentation on selected text
Reading quizzes
Participation, including peer review

Applicants to the Ph.D. program must hold or expect to hold prior to matriculation a Master's degree in English or a closely related field.
The Graduate Admissions Application. Select English as the program. Our
concentrations (e.g., Creative Writing) are not listed on the application's
dropdown menu but you can indicate your concentration in your Statement of
Objectives.
2. The admissions application fee
3. Transcripts from each postsecondary institution you have attended. Unofficial
copies are acceptable for the admissions application, but admitted students must
submit official transcripts in order to enroll at UHM. Graduate Division sets a
minimum GPA of 3.0. If you do not meet this minimum you should address this
in your Statement of Objectives (item 5, below).
4. Certain applicants may be required to submit the following items:
o Residency Declaration Form (applicants who qualify to pay resident rate
tuition)
o Confidential Financial Statement Form (international applicants only)
o Official TOEFL or IELTS exam scores (international applicants only).
(item 5, below). IELTS - 6.0, TOEFL (iBT) - 61, TOEFL PBT-500,Duolingo English Test - 95