Playtime, as in:

• The science behind marketing (to toddler’s specifically)
• What are the ‘right’ toys? Do toddlers always need educational toys?

My research interests are disability studies and children’s media, in particular speculative fiction and the history of depictions of illness and embodiment in young adult literature. I’m writing my thesis on the idea of the monstrous adolescent and how magic/curses/fantastic imagery can be a useful and even empowering shorthand in exploring the lived experience of disability for younger readers. I’m really interested in the fact that this isn’t a solid, uncomplicated thing, within the realm of more radical critical disability studies/social model vs the realm of what we consider good for a young person in education and medical model spaces, how non-explicit disability metaphor is a way into understanding yourself as a disabled person as a child. I’m also really interested in how the use of imaginative spaces works within trauma, in particular medical intervention, where the child patient may or may not have a voice or agency at all.

Another potential workshop interest is the construction of queerness and non-normative family structures in children’s media, in particular the current boom of comics and animation for young viewers by queer creators examining these concepts. I think there’s an interesting line to be drawn from the idea of queer sexuality being an especially policed area of children’s lives even within our general culture with regards to children that has been discussed. Growing up in that environment, many creators are making the content they never had as children where queerness is both transgressive just by existing, but also “wholesome” in the way of media created for (default) heterosexual children. What kind of needs are both being fulfilled for the child viewer, and for the adult creator, who were themselves once a child? How does this feed into the idea of reciprocal care and meaning? 

1. On pages 17-18 Luiselli states “When we run out of stories to tell our children, we fall silent and look out at the unbroken line of the high-way… How do we explain any of this to your own children?” This is a clear depiction of the challenges in introducing our children to society’s injustices. To what extent should we expose our children to the reality of political systems which in some ways promote social injustices?
2. The text explains the multitude of risks behind crossing the border. What are our thoughts about decisions to send children into dangerous territory? Is it worth the risk? To what extent can our country provide a better life?
3. To what extent is the government responsible for providing for our children? Is it solely the parent’s responsibility?
4. The text ends with concerns about public schooling for immigrant children. Should public schools be responsible for providing equal opportunity and education regardless of resident status? What are some ways we can combat concerns of funding and crowding? How could we present solutions for those who are opposed to this?

I’m interested in fashion and children. Thus, I would like to prepare my presentation on the topic of  “Children’s Clothing.” Some of the questions that I would like to analyze are: Why and what is the purpose of gender agreements in clothing? What is the meaning of colors in clothing.? Also, as we all know, unlike older children, babies and toddlers do not have interference in choosing their clothing, which reflects the attitude and beliefs of adults. Consequently, I would like to discuss the connections between the history of gender differences in dressing and the culture of  children’s clothing, and their role in gender identity during early childhood. In addition, I would like to explore the history of children and consumerism in the fashion industry and its interferences in clothing behavior. I think it will be great if I can also show how children’s clothing has changed through the years in terms of colors and styles. If you like the topic, let me know. Thank you. 

Hello!

I am interested in turning to media made for children, especially illustrated literature. An ideal use of my workshop time would be to be paired with a person, or couple of people, and explore their topics of interest as it manifests in picture books. Specifically, I would be excited about thinking disability studies, adoption, or childhood sexuality in, with, and through picture books. Given the limited class time available, I would likely need to focus the scope of books chosen to a specific geographical area and/or time period. Hope this is a helpful starting point, happy to try and flush out more details if needed! – Hannah Coleman

1. How does our perspective of the politicized child contradict/confirm our handling of child soldiers and their experiences?
2. Why are children described as heroic or exceptional whenever they behave in the same manner a typical adult would?
3. What are some ways parents and educators can encourage/acknowledge their children’s political/social awareness while still making great efforts to protect their youthful innocence?
4. Why refer to children as the future of society when they’re often excluded from the present narrative? How can they be expected to craft a future without context or experience?

Chapter 1 of Black Girlhood in the Nineteenth Century, Wright addresses the Republic’s view of children and how black children fit in that view.

•  How are the views of children today similar or different to the views held by the republic in the 1800s? 
• What is considered as an “ideal childhood” today? To what extent are black children/ children of color able to have this “ideal childhood” in today’? 

Wright’s book and Rosen’s article discuss literature’s portrayal of childhood.  

• Are contemporary literature and films more child-friendly or have they only successfully found more subtle ways to portray the past views of childhood? 
• Rosen’s article refers to the films Harry Porter and Hunger Games depicting children having to engage in war or protest to save the day. Today we see children taking the charge in the fight against climate change. How is children’s participation in social/environmental protest negative or positive to their childhood? 

1. Chapter 1 explains the roles of White abolitionists who intended to save t“unprotected” black girls from their circumstances. Were these abolitionists (or “white saviors”) trying to save black girls from the dangers of society or were they trying to protect them from the dangers of their blackness?
2. On p.172, the author states, “Both writers had advised black girls to carefully monitor their outward appearance and behavior so they could take advantage of new opportunities. They believed that dressing and acting correctly would open doors for all blacks, and for the black girls in particular”. Do you think dressing and acting respectably opened doors for African American girls in the early 20th century? Do these acts of respectability open doors for black girls today?
3. Chapter 2 discusses the roles of youthful black girls as having agency and being able to showcase their intelligence. At what point in their lives is this youthful innocence lost for black girls? Is this the time frame for non-black girls?

As a transracial and transnational adoptee scholar, organizer, and activist, I’m interested in using postcolonial feminist frameworks to analyze the material and cultural productions of adopted people (who are most often adopted as infants, children, and less often as youth), especially within transracial and transnational adoption.

By productions of adopted people, I mean the way people, namely infants and children who eventually become adults, are made into transracial and transnational adoptees. This occurs materially, for example, through their/our legal and embodied transfer from families of origin through adoption industries and overall child welfare systems, often moving from working class communities of color (and in the case of transnational adoption) from countries impacted by colonialism, imperialism, racism, militarism, “natural disasters”, etc to middle/upper class predominantly white populations in western countries that have participated in/profited from colonization, imperialism, militarism, racism, etc. This production also occurs culturally, for example, when the social phenomena of adoption and adoptee subject (not necessarily the adopted person themselves) reinforce state-sanctioned norms of the heteronormative patriarchal nuclear family and geopolitical value systems (i.e. transnational political power dynamics between western countries and “developing” countries). I’m also very interested in sitting with how these productions affect the holistic well being of adopted people, communities/families of origin, birth/first families, and groups/families vulnerable to separation. These are the kinds of things I’m interested in exploring more broadly.

In my workshop, I would like to further investigate the confluence of social injustices, adoption industries, and foster care systems. I’m curious about how feminist approaches in Gender Studies have interacted with Children and Youth Studies on issues related to adoption. I’d like to pair some perspectives that may not often be heard next to each other, such as adoption scholars and adoption abolition activists to reflect the possible overlaps/gaps/tension points and visions/desires for the future. I might use some of my own legal adoption documentation to explore the language invoked to declare my adoption official, and how this demonstrates some ways the law conceives of and produces the child, their best interests, and the adoptive parental figures. Who knows! Anyway, I’m excited about potential collaborations with people interested in the above. Please reach out to me for a chat if you’re keen. Thanks!

I think I would like to explore more about child sexuality or child trauma. Child sexuality seem to be almost a taboo area of study. A very sensitive topic with many complexities. The main questions being, do child have a sexuality? What age is too young for sexual exploration? Child trauma is interesting as well, for what does it take for a child to become traumatize? Can trauma be healed? Though, the topic of child trauma isn’t as sensitive to talk about, I’m sure it’s even more complex than child sexuality. Both are definitely interesting topics to me.