Formed in 2016 and based at Queen Mary University of London, the Centre for Childhood Cultures fosters ground-breaking research on children’s everyday lives and experiences, with a special focus on creativity, forms of literacy, and the links between different aspects of childhood culture.DirectorProfessor Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature and Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London.Steering Group
Contact us:For information about the Centre for Childhood Cultures please contact Professor Kiera Vaclavik at k.e.vaclavik@qmul.ac.uk. Activities
Children’s Literature Children’s LivesThe Centre for Childhood Cultures hosts the research seminar series Children’s Literature Children’s Lives. Seminars are given by academics and practitioners and recent events have included Children Behind Bars (railings and reformatories), Children’s Literature and Environmental Citizenship and architecture in children’s picture books. For more information and our upcoming events please visit the Children’s Literature Children’s Lives website or join our mailing list: childlitchildlives@gmail.comCentre for Childhood Cultures Postgraduate Discussion GroupThe Centre for Childhood Cultures holds a Postgraduate and Early-Career Discussion Group which meets monthly to discuss examples of childhood culture and organises research trips. To find out more about the group’s activities please read our blog.
Time: 5.30pm - 7.00pm Venue: Bancroft Building, David Sizer Lecture TheatreSpeaker: Sam ArthurEnvironmental Futures & Children's Publishing: A Presentation and Q&A with Sam ArthurSam Arthur is a founding partner and Creative Director of Nobrow and Flying Eye Books. Since 2008 they have been publishing award winning illustrated books from their East London headquarters. Children’s books include winners of the UK’s prestigious Children’s Book prizes the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and the Waterstones Picture Book Prize. Amongst their most successful projects are the Hilda comics by Luke Pearson, now a BAFTA and Emmy winning animated series on Netflix.In this seminar, we'll hear from Sam about the company's publishing approach to environmental issues with reference non-fiction illustrated books series. This will be followed by a Q&A exploring wider trends in publishing in the face of the climate crisis and finally questions from the audience.This seminar is part of the ongoing activities of the QMUL IHSS Centre for Childhood Cultures
Queen Mary University of London, David Sizer Lecture Theatre at 6pm
In this lecture, Prof Burman will outline the conceptual resources informing 'Child as method', an analytical approach she has developed. Drawing on postcolonial and migration studies, 'Child as method' explicates the necessary inscriptions of 'child' and 'development' across economic, sociocultural, and individual trajectories that position children and childhood as a key contributor to, and reflection of, wider geopolitical dynamics. In addition, Prof Burman will offer some examples of the interpretive and methodological possibilities of 'Child as method', alongside some further discussion of its other analytical contributions.
Queen Mary held a series of events as part of Being Human Festival.
These included Kiccha!, a screening of films made as part of the Stories from Home project; Reimagining my city, a zine-making workshop for 7-13 year olds drawing inspiration from historical magazines created by East London children on the 13th, and How Queer Everything is Today!, a museum-wide programme of events at the V&A engaging with the world of Lewis Carroll, organised by us (Kathleen, Lucie and Kiera). Other relevant events reflected on the publication of child poetry anthology Stepney Words in 1971 and subsequent school strikes, and included the premier of a new film by young writers from Barking and Dagenham.
The Centre for Childhood Cultures, along with the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, is supporting the 2021 Early-Career workshop series Rethinking Childhood Studies Today. This series will be dedicated to the subject of ‘Childhood Studies’, broadly conceived. Through this thematic lens, this series will bring into focus issues relating to children and childhood, ranging across geography, anthropology, sociology, education, politics, law, children’s literature and modern languages. These issues will be contextualised within, and examined in light of, wider societal, methodological, and theoretical challenges.
There will be three events, ‘Understanding Experience: Approaches to the Histories of Children and Youth’ (guest speaker Dr Simon Sleight, KCL), ‘How to think about Children: Kinship-Model Approaches to Agency’ (guest speaker Professor Marah Gubar, MIT) and ‘Putting “Children First”? Tentative Explorations of Alternative Imaginaries’ (panel with Dr Rachel Rosen, UCL and Dr Hedi Viterbo, QMUL) with a final invite only workshop.
Co-sponsored by the Queen Mary Institute for the Humanities and Social Science and the Queen Mary Centre for Childhood Cultures the research seminar series Rethinking Childhood Studies Today, is dedicated to the subject of ‘Childhood Studies’, broadly conceived. Through this thematic lens, this series will bring into focus issues relating to children and childhood, ranging across geography, anthropology, sociology, education, politics, law, children’s literature and modern languages. These issues will be contextualised within, and examined in light of, wider societal, methodological, and theoretical challenges.
All events are free but please book via Eventbrite.
Download the poster: poster for CCC rethinking childhood studies today [PDF 134KB]
Dr Simon Sleight
Thursday 22 April, 4-5.30pm
In this research conversation, Dr Simon Sleight (Department of History, King's College London) will join Professor Alastair Owens, Department of Geography, Queen Mary, to discuss means and methods for exploring histories of youth from the late nineteenth century to the present. Looking beyond categories of 'agency', the concept of 'experience' is proposed as a conduit for productive understandings, and a variety of source types, settings and concepts are assessed to help scholars recover the feel and fabric of the past.
Download the poster: Poster for CCC Rethinking Childhood Seminar 1 Sleight [PDF 184KB]
Listen to the recording here
Professor Marah Gubar
Thursday 6th May 4-5:30pm
In this research conversation Professor Marah Gubar (Department of Literature, MIT) will join Professor Kiera Vaclavik and Dr Rachel Bryant Davies, (Department of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary) to discuss themes relating to the kinship-model approach to agency.
Book via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marah-gubar-how-to-think-about-children-tickets-145474513185
Download the poster: Poster for CCC Rethinking Childhood Seminar 2 Gubar [PDF 116KB]
Panel: Professor Rachel Rosen (UCL Institute of Social Research), Dr Hedi Viterbo (Law, QMUL), Dr Rachel Humphris (Sociology and Politics, QMUL)
Thursday 24th June, 4-5:30pm
In this panel discussion Prof Rachel Rosen (Education, University College London), Dr Hedi Viterbo (Law, Queen Mary) and Dr Rachel Humphris (Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary) will critically reflect on policies that ‘put children first’. The discussion will focus on issues in child migration and youth justice policies, while considering possible implications for other child-related areas.Putting 'Children First'? Tentative Explorations of Alternative Imaginaries
Book via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-discussion-putting-children-first-tickets-145484370669
Download the poster: Poster for Rethinking Childhood Seminar 3 Rosen [PDF 238KB]
Charlotte Byrne (in conversation with Abigail Fine).
Tuesday 3rd March, 5:30 – 8pm. St Margaret’s House.
The Centre for Childhood Cultures launched Charlotte Byrne’s debut novel Folked Up.
Charlotte led a 60-minute creative writing workshop followed by a reading from the novel and Q&A. Full details on the Children’s Literature Children’s Lives website.
All images ©Yellow Ladybird Photography.
Prof Karen Kilcup, Elizabeth Rosenthal Excellence Professor of English, Environmental & Sustainability Studies, and Women’s & Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
13 June 2019.