Debra Mitts-Smith will discuss her recently published book "Picturing the Wolf in Children's Literature."
Dr. Debra Mitts-Smith, an author, professor, and expert on children’s and young adult literature, will give a public lecture at Gustavus Adolphus College at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23 in room 127 of Confer Hall.
Mitts-Smith’s talk will focus on her recent book “Picturing the Wolf in Children’s Literature.” She will discuss her research on the visual images of the wolf in children’s books published in Western Europe and North America from 1500 to the present. She will consider how these depictions influence our views on real wolves, as well as how depictions of wolves in children’s books impart social, cultural, and scientific information not only about wolves but also about humans and human behavior.
Mitts-Smith holds a Ph.D. in Library Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota, and Dominican University. Mitts-Smith teaches courses on children’s and young adult literature, the history of children’s literature, the history of the book, and storytelling. Dr. Mitts-Smith gave the keynote address at the opening of the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) exhibit on children’s literature in 2008. She is a Board member of the Minnesota Zoo.
The lecture on Feb. 23 is free and open to the public. The event is being sponsored by the Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department, the English Department, the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library, and the Curriculum II program.
For more information about this event, contact Associate Professor of Spanish Nancy Hanway at nhanway@gustavus.edu or 507-933-7388.
###
Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510