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Courses - Fall 2025
ENGL
English Department Site
ENGL154
Race, Children's Television, and the Legacies of Jim Henson
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU, DVUP, SCIS
Credit only granted for: ENGL154 or ENGL439J.
Formerly: ENGL439J.
How do children form ideas about race from television? We will approach this question by studying representations of race in children's television from the founding of the animation industry in the 1910s to educational programming epitomized by Sesame Street and the work of Jim Henson. We will also explore representations of race in the "Saturday Morning Cartoon Lineup" and in the subsequent proliferation of computer-generated images, gifs, and memes. Students will visit archives on campus pertaining to Jim Henson's work and reflect on what they find. Assignments will include a paper focused on critical analysis and self-reflection, and students will have the option of completing a multimedia project featuring video production, puppet making, or another creative means of producing a lesson for children.