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

About Children’s Literature, Media & Cultural Entrepreneurship (CLMCE)

CLMCE addresses the relationship between children’s and young adult’s texts and media, and how this relationship is interpreted, understood and responded to within different educational, social and cultural frameworks. This is especially important now and in the future, as texts and media have an impact not only on cognitive development but also on social inclusion and cohesion as well as on industry expansion.

Children’s and young adult (YA) literature and media has become a global business (that includes toys, video-games, apps and other development of technology), tightly interwoven with a broad range of cultural activities, and reaching readers through a variety of new channels. In the light of new technologies, innovative analytical models are required for both studying these texts and for identifying the literacy skills needed to make sense of them. At the same time, texts and media are reflecting greater linguistic and cultural diversity. Therefore, we need a new ‘repertoire’ of literacy and cultural skills, such as language awareness, intercultural communication and visual understanding, to deal with these emerging text and media types.

The holistic study of children’s literature, childhood culture and media can provide the platform for examining the evolution of texts and developing these new repertoires of skills. The integration of theoretical and empirical approaches throughout the programme will allow graduates to create innovative strategies for promoting reading, improving literary competence and incorporating media and digital technology in learning and teaching. The communication and cooperation skills developed in CLMCE, together with the understanding of the global, as well as the local contexts, will allow students to move towards positions of leadership in institutions and organizations that seek to shape education and in particular, the development of specific literacies (print, media, digital) that are relevant to 21st century children and young adults.