School of Information Sciences

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

Perkins defends dissertation

PhD candidate Jana M. Perkins successfully defended her dissertation, "Scholarship writ large: A data-rich analysis of professionalization in English literary scholarship from 1940 to the present."

Jana Perkins

Yu receives 2025 Google PhD Fellowship

PhD student Yaman Yu has been named a recipient of the 2025 Google PhD Fellowship in Privacy, Safety, and Security. The fellowship program recognizes outstanding graduate students who are conducting exceptional and innovative research in computer science and related fields, with a special focus on candidates who seek to influence the future of technology. Google PhD fellowships include tuition and fees, a stipend, and mentorship from a Google Research Mentor for up to two years. Google.org is providing over $10 million to support 255 PhD students across 35 countries and 12 research domains.

Yaman Yu

iSchool researchers to present at ASSETS 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the 27th International Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group (SIG) ACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2025), which will be held in Denver, Colorado, October 26–29, 2025. This conference allows researchers to present their scholarship on design, evaluation, use, and education related to computing for people with disabilities and older adults.

Olalere receives HSLI Jira Scholarship

Precious Olalere, a doctoral student in information sciences, has been awarded the 2025 Helen Knoll Jira Scholarship from the Health Science Librarians of Illinois (HSLI). This award supports individuals pursuing education in library or information science in Illinois, especially those focusing on health science librarianship.

Precious Olalere

Student Spotlight: Daria Meshcheriakova

BSIS student Daria Meshcheriakova came to the iSchool with intention. Originally from Russia, where she lived for 17 years, Meshcheriakova moved to Chicago and attended Harold Washington Community College before transferring to the University of Illinois. Among potential universities, Illinois proved to be the best fit.

Daria Meshcheriakova

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Fax: (217) 244-3302

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top