Program delves into magic of children's 1xbet online casino
For Philip Nel, director of K-State's program in children's 1xbet online casino , kids and adults are not all that different when it comes to books.
&1xbet online casino ;Children may know fewer words than adults,&1xbet online casino ; he said, &1xbet online casino ;but literature for children is as rich and complex as literature for adults.&1xbet online casino ;
And though their subjects and treatments may be far apart, &1xbet online casino ;books for children and books for adults tackle some of the same basic themes,&1xbet online casino ; said Nel, an associate professor of English. &1xbet online casino ;Love, loss, belonging, betrayal, adventure, identity and politics, to name a few.&1xbet online casino ;
That range of endeavor helps account for the growth in K-State's master's degree track for children's 1xbet online casino , which began with five English department graduate students in fall 2006. The following fall, 13 master's candidates chose the track, according to Karin Westman, department head.
&1xbet online casino ;Students include current and former kindergarten-through-12th-grade teachers, as well as graduate students who plan to pursue a master's in library science or a Ph.D. after completing their master of arts in English,&1xbet online casino ; Westman said.
The children's 1xbet online casino program is in keeping with Jon Wefald's directive that departments build on their strengths.
&1xbet online casino ;K-State is the first Big 12 university, and the first in our region, to offer a graduate concentration in children's literature,&1xbet online casino ; Westman said. &1xbet online casino ;We decided to create the track to meet this regional need and because we had a concentration of faculty expertise in the area.&1xbet online casino ;
The track also met student demand for additional graduate courses in children's 1xbet online casino .
Six other U.S. universities offer a master's in English with a concentration on children's 1xbet online casino , according to Nel. The first was Simmons College in Boston, which in 1977 started its Center for the Study of Children's 1xbet online casino .
At K-State, the program has given rise to the Children's and Adolescent Literature Community, a student group that organized a conference on campus in April. Eighty people attended to hear keynote speaker Stephen Johnson, the illustrator and author of &1xbet online casino ;Alphabet City&1xbet online casino ; and &1xbet online casino ;City by Numbers.&1xbet online casino ;
The conference looked at children's books from the viewpoints of educators, librarians and 1xbet online casino students.
&1xbet online casino ;We're happy for any opportunity where we can share with others a love of literature,&1xbet online casino ; said Westman, one of the group's advisers.
&1xbet online casino ;And we value the contribution that the Children's and Adolescent Literature Community has made to the English department and the K-State community through its book talks and events.&1xbet online casino ;
Events have included the July 31 public discussion of the &1xbet online casino ;Twilight&1xbet online casino ; series by Stephenie Meyer, and the Hallows and Horcruxes Ball in March, &1xbet online casino ;a wizard rock concert for literacy,&1xbet online casino ; which benefited the nonprofit organization First Book.
In the future, look for the department to bring in noted scholars and authors to talk with students and other K-Staters, Westman said. &1xbet online casino ;For instance, in October, we will be hosting Leonard Marcus, a biographer of children's authors and a historian of children's book publishing,&1xbet online casino ; she said.
Looking farther ahead, Westman mentioned the likelihood of playing host to the annual conference of the International Wizard of Oz Club in October 2009. That gathering would coincide with Wamego's OztoberFest and would offer panels for scholars, teachers and community members.
Nel, noted for his expertise in the works of Dr. Seuss and J.K. Rowling, says that the vantage point of an adult gives valuable insights into books intended for children.
&1xbet online casino ;One of the pleasures of reading is interpretation, thinking about how and why books mean what they do,&1xbet online casino ; he said. &1xbet online casino ;And our interpretations change over time. Your experience of a book at 8 may differ from your experience of the same book at 18 or at 38.&1xbet online casino ;
Such possibilities keep students and professors alike revisiting old standbys even as they search for the next generation's beloved classics.
Photo: Philip Nel (left) and Bill North, senior curator at the Beach Museum, worked with illustrator and author Stephen Johnson (right) on an exhibition and conference on children’s 1xbet online casino in April.