Children's Literature, Media & Cultural Entrepreneurship (Erasmus Mundus International Master)

Programme Aims

The Programme aims to build on learner’s interests and experiences in different aspects related to children’s literature, culture and media and film. This is in order to deepen their knowledge and understanding of these increasingly globalized fields and provide opportunities for them to consider their role in the construction of historical and contemporary childhoods, as well as the expansion of the industry around it. It is designed for students with diverse prior knowledge and experience and particularly for those seeking to obtain an international perspective in these areas. The Programme also provides wider employability opportunities to become future managers, entrepreneurs, and leaders for cultural institutions with a specific focus on publishing and reading promotion.

The aims of the programme are to:

1. deepen and enhance students' critical understanding of important and contested concepts, theories and debates about the promotion, role and users of literary, film and media texts in professional community partner contexts such as libraries, schools, book/reading promoting organizations, publishers and broadcasting companies;

2. broaden perspectives as to the potential of how children’s books and media can be vehicles for social change through addressing current global themes around identity, inclusion, anti-racism, migration, disability, sexuality, health and well-being and social justice;

3. foster a critical awareness of enquiry methodologies and research literacies in order to evaluate and critique the corpus of the literature and media texts, including visual and digital formats, that form part of the culture of childhood and to develop skills to undertake their own enquiries;

4. extend theoretical and practice-based knowledge to managerial and entrepreneurial skills and competences through managerial knowledge, tools and training to create and to develop cultural programmes or enterprises;

5. provide students with ongoing professional development and transferrable skills training including the opportunity to acquire entrepreneurial, innovation, sustainability skills as well as key employability skills such as communication, cooperation and management, through work placements.

Knowledge and Understanding:

By the end of this programme, students will be able to:

• Critically analyse and evaluate international children’s and young adult literature in traditional, digital and trans medial formats, that students are likely to encounter in their practice, either as teachers, librarians or publishers or through other professional work and adequately and judiciously select these resources for a specific context or purpose.

• Evaluate the application of literary and cultural theories in relation to issues of identity, inclusion and social justice in a global context.

• Evaluate the links between ideas of texts and media intended for children and cultural and educational policies, including ideas of adaptation, values, censorship and the ethics around access.

Subject-specific/practical skills

By the end of this programme students will be able to:

• Employ creative approaches to facilitate and enrich learning, aesthetic and cultural experiences, entertainment and ‘Bildung’ using a wide range of literature and media texts within different contexts in Europe and globally.

• Apply skills of critical enquiry to demonstrate an understanding of and concern for the potential of children’s literature to address social and cultural issues impacting on 21^st century life in a transnational perspective.

• Contribute to planning, implementing, evaluating and forming policy around book/reading promotion and literacy projects and projects concerning children’s uses of media in Europe and globally.

Intellectual skills

By the end of this programme students will be able to:

• Critically analyse challenging issues regarding theory, policy and practice in the fields of children’s literature, culture and media, in ways that enable new and alternative approaches to these issues

• Construct and conduct a substantial piece of applied research pertaining to children’s literature, childhood culture and/or media.

Transferable/key skills

Students will also develop skills that can be applied to other areas, and will be able to:

• Collate and analyse information from a range of sources relevant to specific issue.

• Prepare and conduct oral presentations effectively.

• Write clear, accurate and insightful critical analytical texts.

• Demonstrate ability to conduct applied research within a specific context.

In year 1 you will take 60 ECTS of taught courses.

Semester 1

University of Glasgow

• Children’s Literature: Critical Enquiry
• Texts for Children and Young People
• Cross Boundaries: Children’s Literature and Other Media (delivered online by Tilburg)
• Literature and the Publishing Industry for the Early Years (delivered by Dr Cristina Correro Iglesias as part of Semester 1 UofG course)

Semester 2

Aarhus University

• Children's Literature and Childhood
• Children's Literature Text and Media
• Multidisciplinary Approaches to Principles, Practice, and Current Trends in Academic Research in Children's Literature (delivered online by UBC)
• Life Writing and Fan Fiction (delivered by Tilburg)

* Please note that courses offered may vary from year to year and are subject to change. 
* The Consortium will do their best to ensure students receive their first choice for each pathway, but students should be aware that their first choice is not automatically approved and may need to go do another pathway.   

Summer Schools (optional)

Students will have the option to attend a non-credit bearing summer school at either the University of British Columbia or Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz & Goethe Universität Frankfurt-am-Main

Option 1:  University of British Columbia

• Writing, Publishing and the Book Trade for Children and Young Adults
• Historical Collections and Archives
• Illustrated Literature and Other Materials for Children and Young Adults
• Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults

Option 2: Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz & Goethe Universität Frankfurt-am-Main

• Diversity, Celebrity, and New Media. New Approaches to Cultural Studies
• Digital Methods and Research on Media for Young People
• History, Style and Statistics. Computational Methods to Understand Old and New Children’s and Youth Literature

All students, regardless of whether they are on a scholarship or self-funded, can attend one of the EDUMaH Summer Schools at no additional cost. Summer Schools are non-credit bearing and may vary each year, subject to change. Summer Schools may not run if we do not reach the require minimum numbers. Please confirm that your chosen Summer school is going ahead  before booking your travel and paying for visas. For the summer schools, on-campus accommodation is automatically arranged for the two-week period by the host institution involved.

* Please note that courses offered may vary from year to year and are subject to change. 
* The Consortium will do their best to ensure students receive their first choice for each pathway, but students should be aware that their first choice is not automatically approved and may need to go do another pathway.   

In year 2 you will take 30 ECTS of taught courses from one of the following pathways and a 30 ECTS dissertation.

Year 2 - Semester 1

Study Track A - Nantes University

• Introduction to Business and Sustainability Management for Cultural Institutions/Cultural Projects
• Marketing for Cultural Institutions
• Organisational Behaviour, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Cultural Institutions
• Children's Literature for a Diverse World (delivered online by Glasgow)
• Placement with publishers/libraries

Study Track B - Tilburg University

• Canon Formation
• Children’s Literature in Translation
• Children's Literature in Context: Reception and Reviewing
• Children's Literature for a Diverse World (delivered by Glasgow)
• Placement with publishers/libraries/literary institutions

Study Track C - University of Wrocław

• Representations of Children and Childhood in Film
• International Children's and Family Film
• Film Culture of Children's Cinema
• Children's Literature for a Diverse World (delivered by Glasgow)
• Placement with film festival

Semester 2 - Dissertation

The Consortium Management Board will have overall responsibility for safeguarding the common standards and mechanisms for the examination of students (European and Third Country).

Each of the course components of the International Master programme has its own form of assessment. These are outlined in the individual course handbooks. In order to calculate the final mark achieved the marks for each component are weighted according to their credit rating. 

In year 1 a candidate will be permitted to progress to Dissertation only if s/he has obtained an average aggregation score of 12 (equivalent to Grade C3) or above in the taught courses described above, with at least 75% of the credits at a score of 9 or better (Grade D3 or better) and all credits at a score of 3 or above (Grade F or above). 

Each joint partner university will take responsibility for marking according to its own criteria. Each partner university will provide assessment marks as they stand to the Consortium’s Board of Examiners, along with detailed additional descriptors, for the Board of Examiners to translate to University of Glasgow, the given partner university and the ECTS grading systems to facilitate the production of the joint degree transcript and diploma supplement issued by the consortium.

All examination results will be discussed and finalised by the Board of Examiners and formally approved by the Consortium Management Board. The marking systems for each partner university and how these relate the University of Glasgow and ECTS systems will be made clear to students in advance.

The joint degree will have its own external examiner who will be represented on the Board of Examiners.

The language of instruction is English. However, students are strongly encouraged to undertake second language training in all mobility periods and relevant classes will be highlighted to students by each partner institution. 

The CLMCE Team will be in contact in late summer to provide language options for Semester 1.