The course objectives are to introduce students to a variety of literary works
written with children in mind or traditionally considered to be children's 
literary works; to teach students about changing conceptions of childhood and its
relation to adult experience; to situate individual literary works within larger
social and cultural contexts; to develop students' critical skills through the
analysis of individual literary works; and to improve students' communication skills
through oral presentations and expository writing assignments.

Students' performance is assessed through presentations, tests, writing assignments,
and a final examination.

The course is organized around a series of readings in children's literature.  Topics
considered include genre (fable, fairy tale, parable), popular sources of
children's literature (e.g., folklore, myth, nonsense verse, surrealism) and
frequent motifs (cruelty, orphanhood, violence, fantasy, magic, etc.).  The works
treated vary with the instructor.  The following is a sample syllabus of readings
for a single semester:

Propp.  "Folklore and Literature"
Bettelheim.  "The Struggle for Meaning"
"Little Red Riding Hood"
"Beauty and the Beast"
"Snow White"
"Cinderella"
"Bluebeard"
"Hansel and Gretel"
Hans Christian Andersen.  Selected Fairy Tales
Oscar Wilde.  Selected Fairy Tales
Harris.  The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
Carroll.  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Barrie.  Peter Pan
Jansson.  Tales from Moominvalley
Saint-Exupery.  The Little Prince

Students are required to abide by the University of Georgia academic honesty policy.