Hoiem presents research on economic justice in children’s literature at ChLA 2019

Elizabeth Hoiem
Elizabeth Hoiem, Associate Professor

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hoiem presented her research at the Children's Literature Association conference (ChLA 2019), which was held June 13-15 in Indianapolis. With the theme "Activism and Empathy," this year's conference reflected on the role of children and children's literature in engaging with political concerns, promoting activism, and/or cultivating empathy.

In her talk, "Fair Trade for Children: Ethical Exchange in the Children's Literature of Jane Marcet and the 19th Century Cooperative Movement," Hoiem discussed representations of economic justice in children’s literature from 1800 to 1860.

"Scholars have previously assessed literature by Charles Dickens, Charlotte Tonna, Harriet Martineau, and Elizabeth Gaskell about industrialization and political economy," Hoiem said. "My approach, however, places children at the center of these ethical debates—as readers and consumers, but also as children who worked alongside adults to produce goods for trade."

At ChLA 2019, Hoiem received the Judith Plotz Emerging Scholar Award and co-organized, with Katharine Kittredge (Ithaca College), an information event on archival research, which was sponsored by the "Early Children's Literature and Culture" scholars group.

Hoiem teaches in the areas of reading and literacy, history of children's literature, and fantasy literature. In her research and teaching, she explores the history of technological innovations in children’s literature, from early children’s books and toys to contemporary applications of digital pedagogy. She received a 2018 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for her current book project, "The Education of Things: Mechanical Literacy in British Culture, 1752-1860." This project investigates the class politics of "object lessons," a mode of experiential learning that developed during the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with the rise in child labor and mass literacy. Her recent articles are published in The Lion and the Unicorn and Children's Literature. Hoiem holds a PhD in English from Illinois.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Hassan selected for IAPP Westin Scholar Award

PhD student Muhammad Hassan has been selected as an IAPP Westin Scholar Award honoree. The annual awards were created by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) to support students who are identified as future leaders in the field of privacy and data protection. 

Muhammad Hassan

Bak defends dissertation

PhD candidate Michelle Bak successfully defended her dissertation, "Promoting a Healthy and Comprehensive Diet through Theory-Driven Large Language Models-based Agents," on July 14.

Chaewon Bak

School welcomes specialized faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of two specialized faculty members. Yildiz Esener and Nitin Verma will join the School as teaching assistant professors in August 2025.

iSchool to present research at the Digital Humanities 2025 conference

iSchool faculty, staff, and students will present their research at DH2025, the annual conference of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO), which will take place on July 14–18 in Lisbon, Portugal. The digital humanities (DH) conference is the largest event of the international DH community and unites scholars from across the globe. 

Zalot defends dissertation

PhD candidate Andrew Zalot successfully defended his dissertation, "'Tweet of the Town:' Synthesizing Local and Social Media Discourse on Book Bans," on July 3.

Andrew Zalot