Global Research Centres & Institutes
compiled by Olivia Bushardt
Africa
Muna Kalati: Muna Kalati is a digital research centre dedicated to the promotion of African children’s literature and children’s book publishing. The website includes relevant information about children’s and young adult literature and children’s publishing professionals in both Francophone and Anglophone Africa, including a database of African's Children's Literature.
Austria
KiJuLit - Centre for Research and Teaching of Children’s and Young Adult Literature: Part of the research work at the Pädagogischen Hochschule Steiermark, the centre puts children's and young people's literature into the focus of teaching and education. Research fields include elementary, primary, and secondary education and are concerned with literary didactic issues in German, German as a second language, English, and the field of inclusive pedagogy. Activities are aimed at teachers of universities and colleges, teachers of all schools, elementary educators and student teachers as well as pupils.
Institut für Jugendliteratur: The institute, which was founded in 1965 as a non-profit association, sees itself as a service and communication center for the child and youth literary area. In addition to advisory work, tasks include the further education and training of mediator groups, national and international network formations as well as the preparation or dissemination of information, databases, and publications. The main concern is to increase the socio-political significance of Children's and Youth Literature.
Canada
Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures (CRYTC): CRYTC was established by the University of Winnipeg in 2006 in order to recognize, organize, and extend the expertise in the study of texts for children and youth that had developed at the University, principally through the Department of English. CRYTC supports scholarly inquiry into literary, media, and other cultural texts for children and youth, houses the journal Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures, facilitates the development and management of collaborative national and international research projects, hosts visiting speakers and researchers, and maintains links with other research centres in children’s studies internationally.
Croatia
Centre for Research in Children's Literature and Culture (CRCLC): Established in 1998 at the University of Zagreb, activities of the CRCLC include research, dissemination of research results, academic collaboration with different partners, providing adequate conditions for research, supporting young researchers, etc. In particular, CRCL plans, prepares, and performs research projects in its area of expertise and maintains international cooperation with other universities and centres.
Denmark
Center for Børns Litteratur og Medier: Located at Aarhus University, the Center for Children's Literature and Media is tasked with researching, teaching, and disseminating knowledge about children's literature and media. Research at the center deals with children's current use of media, new and older children's literature in intermedial perspective, digital and analogue youth literature and the children's and youth literature circuits in the book market before and now. The Center runs the School of Children's Literature (Emdrup) and the Master of Children's Literature and Media.
Estonia
Estonian Children's Literature Centre: The Centre collects, preserves, and offers the opportunity to engage with children’s and youth literature as part of Estonia’s cultural heritage. The mission is to support a variety of initiatives, including research, education, and entertainment.
Finland
Lastenkirjainstituutti (LKI) - The Finnish Institute for Children's Literature: The Finnish Institute for Children’s Literature advances the position of children’s and youth literature in Finland. The special library and collection of original illustrations cater to a wide audience. We cooperate with specialist networks, media and educational institutions nationally and internationally. We organize events, seminars and exhibitions and house the children’s literature journal Onnimanni, which discusses news, phenomena and practitioners in the field and introduces recent children’s and youth literature.
France
The Institut International Charles Perrault: The Institut International Charles Perrrault is a non-profit association founded in 1994 by Jean Perrot, Professor of Comparative Literature and specialist in children's literature, in collaboration with the city of Eaubonne and the University of Paris. The Institute aims to study and present the issues of youth literature in order to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for critical reading among young readers and their cultural mediators.
Germany
Institut für Jugendbuchforschung (IJBF): Founded in 1963, the institute houses an extensive children's and juvenile book and children's and youth media collections for researchers, hosts exhibitions, conferences, and lecture series and organises courses on children's literature.
Deutsche Akademie für Kinder- und Jugendliteratur: The Academy promotes children's and youth literature through various activities including awarding the Grand Prix of the German Academy for Children's and Youth Literature, hosting conferences, publicizing new children's texts, etc.
Ireland
Centre for Research in Children’s and Young Adult Literature: Formerly know as the Centre for Children’s Literature and Culture, the Centre was established in 2006 by members of the former Department of English, St. Patrick’s College. The centre plays a significant role in the promotion of children’s and young adult literature in Ireland. The centre welcomes collaboration with national and international academics, educationalists, writers, illustrators, publishers, in fact anyone, with an interest in children’s and young adult literature. In the past, the centre has attracted international scholars, such as Jack Zipes and Jerry Griswold from the United States, and Lucy Pearson from the United Kingdom, as well as leading writers for children and young adults, such as Ireland’s first Laureate na nÓg, Siobhán Parkinson, and English writer Melvin Burgess.
Iceland
The Research Centre on Children's Literature and Children's Reading: Founded at the University of Akureyri in 2012, the Centre conducts research and education on children's literature and reading in Iceland, encourages and provides facilities for research in children's literature, disseminates knowledge and information about children's literature in Iceland and promotes their visibility in the community, promotes a reading culture among children and adolescents in Iceland, promotes and consolidates domestic and foreign relations and participate in international knowledge in the field, and holds seminars and promotes the publication of scholarly literature in the field.
Italy
The Interdisciplinary Centre on Mediation and Translation by and for Children (MeTRa): MeTRa is a research centre that operates at the University of Bologna at Forlì. It promotes interpreting and translation research applied to childhood and adolescence, and its studies range from analyzing all issues connected with translating for children to a critical discussion of children translating for adults, or child language brokering (CLB), which involves first-generation children and adolescents bridging the language and cultural gap between their families and the larger society. One of the centre’s transversal foci is gender studies, where a critical look is cast on the gender roles, models, and identities as they emerge in children’s literature (whether in translation or in the original) and CLB.
Norway
The Norwegian Institute for Children’s Books (NBI): Founded in 1979, the NBI develops and disseminates knowledge about literature for children and young people, works to strengthen research in the field, teaches children’s and young adult literature, and runs author training, online studies, dissemination, and information activities. The institute is a meeting place for artistic and academic development and reflection. The NBI owns a large collection of books that are managed by the National Library of Norway abd is actively used by teachers, librarians, students, researchers, critics, journalists, publishers, authors, and illustrators.
Poland
Centre for Young People's Literature and Culture (CYPLC): The Centre for Young People’s Literature and Culture at the Institute of English Studies, Wroclaw University, is one of the few research-didactic groups in the field in Central and Eastern Europe. Since it was established in 2003, its projects have focused both on scholarly research and on practical work with the general public, and especially with children, young adults, and educators.
Russia
Center for Research of Children's Literature: Part of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Center promotes research in children's literature, publishes a scholarly peer-reviewed journal on children's literature, and hosts conferences and monthly seminars on various topics of children's literature in Russia and abroad.
Spain
Research Group on Books for Children and Youngsters and Literacy Learning (GRETEL): Composed of professors and PhD students from the Department of Didactics of Language and Literature at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, as well as high school teachers and some external specialists, the main objective is to study the uses of literature children and young people’s books in compulsory education. The web site contains information on group members, research projects, publications, activities (conferences, courses, congresses, etc.), a section of texts, documents, databases, and articles on children's literature in Spain.
Sweden
Centrum för barnkulturforskning (CBK): Established at Stockholm University in 1980 as a special center with the task of promoting knowledge and research in the subject area child culture, the Centre organizes courses in children's culture, symposia, cross-cutting days, and publishing a series of letters.
Switzerland
Schweizerisches Institut für Kinder- und Jugendmedien (SIKJM): The Swiss Institute for Children and Youth Media collects and documents children's and youth media in its library; examines children's and youth media with a cultural-scientific, interdisciplinary approach, presents the results at scientific conferences and communicates them through publications and exhibitions; promotes literacy; reports in journals and books on children's and youth media, trends and backgrounds; and honors outstanding children's and youth books. The SIKJM is an associate institute of the University of Zurich and associate member of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences SAGW.
Turkey
Ankara Üniversitesi Çocuk ve Gençlik Edebiyatı Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (COGEM):
Affiliated with Ankara University, COGEM conducts and promotes research about children and youth literature at home and abroad, specifically studies on the contribution of books as a visual and linguistic stimulus to children's development processes and their acquisition of a reading culture.
Ukraine
Ukrainian Research Center of Children's and Young Adult Literature (URCCYL): Founded in 2009, the URCCYL consists of researchers, scientists, writers, publishers, librarians, universities, institutes, departments, centers, public organizations, editorial boards etc. from all around the Ukraine. The Center promotes reading as a cultural value and the study of children's and young adult literature through initiatives and publications including Center's own professional periodical Literature. Children. Time. Journal of Ukrainian Research Center of Children and Youth Literature.
United Kingdom
Centre for Children's Book Studies: Associated with Anglia Ruskin University, the Centre for Children’s Book Studies brings together new multidisciplinary research across departments that focuses on the book as material object and children’s culture in its broader contexts. The Centre works closely with the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University, bringing together theory and practice through an ongoing collaboration between staff and students across the two institutions.
The Cambridge-Homerton Research and Teaching Centre for Children's Literature (RTCC): Established jointly by the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge and Homerton College in 2009 to consolidate the long tradition of children’s literature which had earned both institutions a strong national and international profile for high quality research and teaching. Includes projects, publications, events, and open seminars.
Graduate Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media (CIRCL): Established in the English Department at the University of Reading in 1996, CIRCL aims to promote and coordinate international and interdisciplinary academic research in childhood, focusing particularly on research in children and culture, children’s literature, and children and the media. CIRCL organises lecture series, seminars, and conferences.
International Forum for Research in Children's Literature (IFRCL): Housed at the University of Worcester, the Forum is a catalyst, enabler, and producer of research, research collaboration and dissemination, and associated public engagement activity. It seeks to promote cross-disciplinary enquiry by bringing together expertise and interests from across the University and further afield, and is a base for the activity of an established and growing community of academic staff members, postgraduate researchers and research fellows and associates. IFRCL houses related research collections.
National Centre for Research in Children's Literature (NCRCL): Launched in 1995, the Centre promotes academic excellence in research into children’s literature, primarily through thriving postgraduate MA and PhD programs, conferences and staff publications. Tutors also teach at undergraduate level, to ensure the position and prestige of children’s literature within the University of Roehampton.
Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children's Books: Seven Stories is the UK’s only museum and archive dedicated to modern and contemporary children’s literature. Its internationally significant collection documents every aspect of children’s book production, from first drafts to reception by readers, and represents the work of authors, illustrators, editors and publishers, literary agents, librarians and booksellers. The archive collection comprises manuscripts, artwork, related papers and books, dating from the 1930s to the present day. The collection represents over 260 significant figures from the British children’s books world, including authors such as Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne Jones, Aidan Chambers and Michael Morpurgo; illustrators like Edward Ardizzone, Judith Kerr, and Shirley Hughes; and prominent editors including Kaye Webb (Puffin) and David Fickling (Scholastic / David Fickling Books). Seven Stories also holds over 35,000 books, including a number of rare editions. The collection is shared with the public via the visitors’ centre and museum, which mounts award-winning exhibitions and events for audiences of all ages.
United States
Center for Children’s Literature and Culture: This interdisciplinary center is based in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida. Members of the Center include faculty and researchers from the University community; teachers, librarians, media specialists, and others working directly with children; and artists and writers creating works for children in print and other media. The Center's purpose is to encourage the exploration of this vital area of our cultural life through scholarly and critical investigations; through meetings, symposia, and seminars; and through the development of innovative ways to make the research and concerns of our members available to the general public.
National Center for the Study of Children's Literature (NCSCL): Located at San Diego State University in California, the National Center for the Study of Children's Literature (NCSCL) was created as a research center for university faculty and visiting scholars; among the latter, have been in-residence scholars from Europe, Japan, and India who have made use of the extraordinary research holdings in children's materials at SDSU's Love Library.
To contribute an entry to this list, please email chlainternational@gmail.com with the name of the center or institute, web address, and a brief description. Use the email subject heading International Research Centres & Institutes.