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ENG 375 - Young Adult Literature

Department: English

Description: Advanced critical examination of literature for young adults with emphasis on trends and research. Multiple enrollments allowed if content is different.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: A minimum of 60 hours completed

Current Offerings

For the most up-to-date course information, please check the registration system through your MyIllinoisState portal.

Spring 2025

  • 001 - Lecture (Hybrid): Multiple Meetings, Mary Jeanette Moran - 3.00 hour(s)
  • 002 - Lecture (In Person): T Th 3:35 PM - 4:50 PM , Jeremy Johnston 3.00 hour(s)

Meeting Times:

Instructor: Mary Jeanette Moran

Class Notes: A wide variety of experiences marks the transition from childhood to adulthood through that ever-changing stage known as adolescence. In this class, we’ll focus on the question of how young people learn to make their own ethical decisions. Of course, this approach necessitates guidelines about what it means to make ethical decisions. Therefore, as background to our analysis of literature, we’ll start by reading two groundbreaking studies of moral development by Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan. Kohlberg proposes that the highest level of morality is the ability to make decisions according to universal principles; Gilligan suggests an alternative model in which moral decision-making must take into account the relationships among particular individuals and the communities in which they live. We’ll use these ideas to investigate novels from various time periods and subgenres, all written for and about young adults, with protagonists who explore their responsibilities to self, particular others, and community. Additionally, we’ll consider the role that empathy plays in the reading process; this aspect of the course aligns it with principles of civic engagement and the course can count as an elective for the Civic Engagement & Responsibility Minor. Primary texts will include Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, and Cynthia Leitch Smith’s Hearts Unbroken. Much of our work together will be devoted to discussion about the readings, though we will also engage in informal writing and peer workshopping; students should expect to be actively engaged in their learning throughout the semester. The hybrid designation of the course indicates that students may choose how to attend class each day, either in person in the classroom, or on Zoom, so that we will be working in a hybrid environment likely every day. In addition to thoughtful and interactive participation in our discussions, student responsibilities will include a day of leading discussion and three formal papers.

Textbooks have not been finalized for section.

Dates: 01/13/2025 - 05/03/2025

Location: Adlai E. Stevenson Hall 220 (STV 220)

Instructor: Jeremy Johnston

Class Notes: This course is about the economic dynamics of young adult (YA) literature and, therefore, how thinking economically can yield deep insight into how literature works and how thinking literarily can offer equally deep insight into how money works. In this class, we will learn about the relationship between socioeconomic status and YA fiction, the role debt plays in our society, and how the economy informs our conceptions of adolescence, literature, gender, race, and health, among other areas. This course is designed to introduce you to the field of YA literature and its exploration of economic systems through literary analysis. We will analyze how concepts such as adolescence, literature, and money share symbolic qualities, how to address what YA fiction is and why it’s valuable, what “value” even means, and where/how we attribute value to areas of our lives. Ultimately, we will examine how YA literature and economic concepts/systems interact to the enrichment (pun intended) of one another.

Textbooks have not been finalized for section.