Workshops

Drawing from my experience as a co-initiator of Grow (Instagram, LinkedIn) with Rosalyn Borst and Chiara Malpezzi, an initiative that aims at stimulating transnational dialogue and collaboration among young scholars of children’s literature, I wish to invite young scholars – and their allies from various fields – to reflect on the ways early career members of academia may manoeuvre in these challenging times of their lives.

The workshop will begin by reflecting on the status of young scholars of children’s literature as seen through different national, geographical, economic, and cultural lenses. Next, we will review some initiatives and ideas that have been held so far. Finally, the participants will work on their ideas for fostering collaboration between young scholars, which we will discuss at the end.

The participants will leave the workshop with a broader perspective on the challenges young scholars face and ways to help overcome them through collaboration initiatives.

Are you curious about what it takes to work as a translator of children’s books? This interactive workshop will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the world of children’s literature translation: from the projects, the creative choices and the daily decisions to the skills and pathways that can open up a career in translating literature for younger readers.

By the end of the session, you should have a clearer picture of what the job involves, practical insight into how translation works day to day and maybe a few sparks of inspiration for your own writing, research or future adventures in the world of children’s books.

You don’t need to prepare anything – just bring your curiosity! If you have any burning questions about what it takes to build a career as a translator of children’s literature, bring them along too. No previous translation experience is required, and all languages are very welcome.

Funding bodies increasingly require arts and humanities researchers to demonstrate the potential impact of their research. One way to achieve this is to involve industry stakeholders in your children’s literature research projects. Working with schools, museums, festivals, publishers, game designers, theatre companies, literacy organisations or bookshops, creates thrilling opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and learning that can expand the field in new ways. This workshop will help you explore potential stakeholders and levels of engagement from industry mentoring to empirical research with child participants. It will help you approach the ethical questions involved and explore different ways of initiating contact. Gareth Osborne is a practice-based, participatory researcher in the YUFE postdoctoral scheme, which has industry engagement as a core value.

This workshop is meant for students who are doing or have completed a PhD. Vanessa Joosen introduces ongoing research at the University of Antwerp and channels that applicants can use to acquire funding for a postdoc. She then explains the process of developing a good research proposal.

Preparation: bring a 1-page document to class that answers the following questions

1. What is your idea and why does it matter?

2. What research has already been done on this topic and what is innovative about your proposal?

3. What methods can you use to develop this research?

In this session, Frauke Pauwels helps participants prepare for their academic paper for the summer school. She explains the format and assessment criteria of the paper, and then assists you in choosing a feasible topic and developing your first ideas and research plan.