Nov 24, 2024

2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog

2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog This is not the most recent catalog version; be sure you are viewing the appropriate catalog year.

Interdisciplinary Children’s Literature and Drama/Theatre for the Young [BA]

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Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Children’s Literature and Drama/Theatre for the Young have the opportunity to interact with works of children’s and young adult literature and plays for the young in multiple ways.

Learn

In the Interdisciplinary Major in Children’s Literature and Drama/Theatre for the Young, students explore different genres and categories of texts for children and young adults and different techniques and styles of theatre and storytelling for young audiences. They study the current issues and debates within children’s literature and theatre, as well as their disciplinary histories, and they envision the future of these fields. They also discover how to bring literary texts to life through performance, theatrical exploration, and storytelling. Through reading, research, discussion, experiential drama, and performance, they consider how children’s books and plays reflect and shape individual lives, different cultures, and society as a whole while developing an appreciation for art in multiple formats. The degree’s scholarly, creative, practical, and reflective curriculum and instruction foster critical thinking, reading, research, writing, and presentation skills that are beneficial in many different professional contexts.

Opportunities

While pursuing this major, students have opportunities to engage in scholarly research related to texts for young people, to complete creative, multimodal projects and performances, and to share their scholarly and creative work as part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Students are also able to participate in hands-on, experiential learning through academic-service learning and Learning Beyond the Classroom courses and through school tour performances.

Graduates with this degree have gone on to exciting careers in teaching, librarianship, publishing, bookselling, writing, illustrating, directing, and acting. Other students who have successfully completed this degree have enrolled in graduate programs devoted to children’s literature, children’s theatre, English, education, and library science.

Department Information

English Language & Literature, College of Arts & Sciences

Joseph Csicsila, Ph.D. | Interim Department Head | 612 Pray-Harrold | 734.487.4220 | jcsicsila@emich.edu

Advisor Information

Ian Wojcik-Andrews, Ph.D. | 603G Pray-Harrold | 734.487.0138 | iwojcika@emich.edu

General Education Requirements:

For specific requirements, see General Education or print a worksheet .

Major Requirements: 36 hours

Required Courses: 21 hours

CHL 207 - Introduction to Children’s Literature [GEKH] 3 hrs
CHL 208 - Multicultural Children’s Literature [GEUS] 3 hrs
CTAR 327 - Plays for the Young 3 hrs
One course from the following:
CHL 351 - World Mythology 3 hrs
CHL 352 - Folk Literature: Ballads and Folk Tales 3 hrs
One course from the following:
CHL 450W - Children’s Literature: Criticism and Response [GEWI] 3 hrs
CHL 451W - Writing about Controversy in Literature for the Young [GEWI & GELB] 3 hrs
One course from the following:
CTAR 222 - Drama and Play in Human Experience [GEKA] 3 hrs
CTAR 323 - Improvising and Role-Play 3 hrs
One course from the following:
CTAR 322 - Theatre for Children 3 hrs
CTAR 324 - Oral Interpretation of Children’s Literature 3 hrs

Restricted Elective Courses: 15 hours

Courses not chosen to fulfill program requirements above may be taken as restricted electives.

Occasionally special topics courses may be offered (such as children’s film, storytelling, or puppetry) which may be substituted for a restricted elective with departmental permission. Qualified seniors may, with an advisors permission, substitute appropriate 500- level course.

Capstone Experience

At the conclusion of the program, the students will submit a portfolio of three papers/projects/performances, which the student believes are representative of his/her best work produced for the major. By the middle of the student’s final semester, he/she will consult with his/her advisor about the materials to be submitted and the date that they are due. All materials must be submitted at least on month prior to the close of the semester in question. This portfolio will be evaluated by a committee composed of members of the English Department’s Children’s Literature faculty and Drama/Theatre for the Young faculty from the School of Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts. Portfolios will be maintained by the Children’s Literature faculty. Students whose portfolios are found to be deficient will be asked to make up that deficiency and submit new materials.

Minor Requirement:

This major requires a minor.

For a list of available minors, please see Academic Programs or contact your major advisor.

Program Total:

Students must earn a minimum total of 124 credits at the 100-level or above.

Beginning in Fall 2022, all baccalaureate degree programs for all undergraduates (regardless of catalog year) will require a minimum of 120 credit hours for completion.

Critical Graduation Information

Each undergraduate student will be responsible for the fulfillment of the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

The following are minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult the online catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.

Earn a minimum total of 124 credits at the 100-level and above. Courses with numbers below 100 will not be counted toward this degree requirement. At most 8 credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses will be counted toward this requirement.
Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below).
Complete a Writing Intensive (GEWI) Course in your major.
Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement. (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details.)
Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor; students should check requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required.
Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits in excess of the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 124 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
- Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
- Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
- Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; the internal review of such courses is conducted by individual departments/schools within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used in the calculation of an EMU GPA.
Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU in order to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses taken at EMU and those applied to a student’s major or minor will be used in the calculation of their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)

General Education Requirements EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or with similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education section of the catalog.

Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.