Critical Social Inquiry 0225 - Reframing Young Writers

For what and whose purposes do young writers write, and how are these purposes represented in our literary, cultural, and political worlds? How can works by young writers be read as literary texts, and how can adults facilitate opportunities for young writers? How do young writers engage with themes of injustice and oppression? This course integrates literary studies and critical youth studies in reframing young writers as cultural producers and participants in literary culture. We will focus on case studies in genres of diary/memoir and poetry including: young white Jewish writer Anne Frank whose Diary of a Young Girl was written in hiding in Amsterdam during World War II; and Vanessa Howard and other young Black poets who wrote in the US during the 1960s and early 1970s Civil Rights movement. Keywords: children, youth, literature, poetry, memoir

In/Justice Students in this course can expect to spend 6 to 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.