Zalot authors chapter on censorship

Andrew Zalot
Andrew Zalot

A new guide to children's literature and culture includes a chapter by doctoral candidate Andrew Zalot. The Routledge Companion to Children's Literature and Culture, edited by Claudia Nelson, Elisabeth Wesseling, and Andrea Me-Ying Wu, was released at the end of November.

Zalot's chapter covers a brief history of censorship in the United States and some of the motivations behind people who attempt to censor books. It also examines the language used in the discourse of censorship, using some of the Dr. Seuss books removed from publication in 2021 as a case study.

"Censorship practices are often grounded in concern over the social status quo, with voices across the political spectrum focusing on either preserving or changing it," said Zalot. "With this in mind, censorship has become a term that many often find difficult to define, given how broad censorship practices are."

Zalot's research focuses on intellectual freedom and censorship in schools and libraries. His current work focuses on examining discourse in online and local communities, specifically how they engage with one another when a book is banned. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Texas A&M University.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Student award recipients announced

The School of Information Sciences recognized student award recipients at the iSchool Convocation on May 18. Awards are based on academic achievements as well as attributes that contribute to professional success. For more information about each award, including past recipients, visit the Student Awards page. Congratulations to this year's honorees!

Award recipients Mahir Thakkar, Delia Kerr-Dennhardt, Katie Skoufes, Audrey Bentch, and Adam Beaty.

iSchool alumni and student named 2025 Movers & Shakers

Two iSchool alumni and an MSLIS student are included in Library Journal's 2025 class of Movers & Shakers, an annual list that recognizes 50 professionals who are moving the library field forward as a profession. Leah Gregory (MSLIS '04) was honored in the Advocates category, Billy Tringali (MSLIS '19) was honored in the Innovators category, and University Library Assistant Professor and Digital Humanities Librarian Mary Ton (current MSLIS student) was honored in the Educators category.

Spectrum Scholar Spotlight: Dalia Ortiz Pon

Twelve iSchool master's students were named 2024–2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Dalia Ortiz Pon earned her bachelor's degree in Latina/Latino studies from San Francisco State University. 

Dalia Ortiz Pon

Debnath datafies "The Bulletin"

MSIM student Tan Debnath, whose interests span data mining, statistical modeling, text mining, and digital humanities, joined the Center for Children's books as a research assistant. He was tasked with building curation processes that would datafy seventy-five years' worth of archival issues of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, one of the nation's leading children's book review journals.

Tan Debnath stands casually with his hands in his pockets and smiles broadly at the camera. It's a sunny day