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Members of the community are invited to an online Children’s Literature Symposium presented by Raritan Valley Community College, October 24, from 4-5:30 p.m. There is no charge for the program, which is being held via Zoom.

Panelists Barbara Seater, Emily Dial-Driver, Mark Lubkowitz, Valerie Bang-Jensen, Kimberly Maitland, Sara Austin, and Moderator Lisa M. Tucker will share their experiences using children's picture books/young adult literature in the college classroom. The panelists, collectively, will address: Why children's literature is engaging for college students; how to infuse children's literature into one's college teaching; and how to evaluate appropriate literary work, authors, and titles.

A growing trend on college campuses is incorporating fiction and literature, specifically children's picture books and young adult fiction, into one's teaching. Children's and young adult fiction can be used to introduce difficult topics, raise ethical questions, and reinforce patterns in critical thinking. Some popular children's/young adult books used in college courses include Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, Angie Thomas' The Hate You Give, Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Art Spiegelman’s Maus.

The program will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the panelists.

To participate in RVCC’s Children’s Literature Symposium, visit https://raritanval-edu.zoom.us/j/86120943713?from=addon. For additional information, contact Professor Lisa Tucker at lisa.tucker@raritanval.edu.

Panelists' Biographies:

Barbara Seater, Associate Professor of Sociology, Raritan Valley Community College, specializes in race & ethnicity, and global studies with an emphasis on Asia and the Middle East. Professor Seater has two additional degrees in Nursing and Gerontology. Further, she has received two Mid-Career Fellowships at Princeton University.   

Emily Dial-Driver, Professor of English, Rogers State University, Oklahoma, specializes in grammar, children's literature, composition, and general literature. Dr. Dial-Driver is the author of articles in the following texts of which she was editor, with others: The Truth of Buffy: Essays on Fiction Illuminating Reality; Voices from the Heartland I and II; Children's and YA Books in the College Classroom: Essays on Instructional Methods; Fantasy Media in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching with Film, Television, Literature, Graphic Novels and Video Games; as well as numerous short stories, poems, plays, articles, and a novel.

Mark Lubkowitz, Professor of Biology, Saint Michael's College, Vermont, specializes in biology. Professor Lubkowitz has co-authored two books with Valerie Bang-Jensen: Books in Bloom: Discovering Plant Biology in Great Children’s Literature (National Gardening Association, 2014), and Sharing Books, Talking Science: Exploring Scientific Concepts with Children’s Literature (Heinemann, 2017).

Valerie Bang-Jensen, Professor of Education, Saint Michael's College, Vermont, specializes in literacy and children’s literature. In addition to co-authoring the books above with Mark Lubkowitz, Professor Bang-Jensen is the author of Literacy Moves Outdoors: Learning Approaches for Any Environment (Heinemann, 2023).

Kim Maitland, Associate Professor of Education, Raritan Valley Community College, specializes in teacher preparation and early childhood education.

Sara Austin, Assistant Professor of English, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Kentucky, specializes in children's literature and embodiment, eco pedagogy, horror, comics, and youth media. Dr. Austin is the author of Monstrous Youth: Transgressing the Boundaries of Childhood in the US (Ohio State University Press), and co-editor of Global Children's Literature in the College Classroom (Rowman and Littlefield).

Lisa M. Tucker, Professor of English, Raritan Valley Community College, specializes in dramatic literature. This symposium is a part of Professor Tucker's sabbatical project of which she is developing a children's literature English elective. Professor Tucker is the author of the children's picture book Chessie Dentley, Student of the Month (Lulu Press, 2022).

RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 3, 2023

PR #16