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Penn State's College of Education is regularly ranked among the nation's best graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report, and the Graduate Certificate in Children's Literature courses are taught by the same nationally recognized faculty.

Emily Aguiló-Pérez
Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction, Penn State
M.A. English Education, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
B.A. English, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Dr. Emily Aguiló-Pérez is an assistant professor of education (children's literature) at Penn State. Her previous research examined the social and cultural implications that experiences with Barbie had on women's and girls' lives. Her current research examines representations of Puerto Rican identity in children's literature. Her teaching experience encompasses education at the elementary, high school, and college levels. She has taught Children's Literature, The Creative Child, and Teaching English to English Language Learners. Other areas of research include children's literature, girlhood studies, Latinx studies, and ESL.

Gail Boldt
Ph.D., Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, University of Hawaii
M.Ed., Clinical Mental Health, Penn State
California Clear Teaching Certificate, Mills College
MTS, Religion and Society, Harvard University
B.A., Psychology, Trinity College

Dr. Gail Boldt has taught Teaching Reading in Elementary Classrooms; Teaching Writing in Elementary Classrooms; Theories of Childhood; Theories of Identity; and Foucault and Education. Her research interests include psychoanalytic analyses of child development, parenting, teaching and learning; literacies in elementary and early childhood education; identity (including gender, sexuality, and race) and schooling; childhood studies; cultural studies: and disability studies.

Learn more about Dr. Gail Boldt.
Elisa Hopkins
Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, Penn State
M.A., English, Florida State University
B.A., English, College of William and Mary

Dr. Elisa Hopkins is an associate teaching professor of education specializing in literature for children and adolescents. She is lead faculty for the Penn State World Campus Children's Literature program. Her research interests include multicultural poetry, the development of critical consciousness, fairy-tale studies, and nonfiction literature for children and adolescents.

Learn more about Dr. Elisa Hopkins.
Vivian Yenika-Agbaw
Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, Penn State
M.A., English Education, University of Connecticut, Storrs
B.A., English Literary Studies, University of Yaounde

Dr. Vivian Yenika-Agbaw has published numerous articles and co-authored or co-edited several books, including Using Nonfiction for Civic Engagement: Critical Approaches (2018; with Ruth McKoy Lowery and Paul H. Ricks). She served on several editorial boards and reviewed manuscripts for numerous publications. She currently serves on the International Research Society for Children’s Literature and is an active member of the National Council of Teachers of English and Children’s Literature Association.

Learn more about Dr. Vivian Yenika-Agbaw.