| Jeffrey S. Kaplan, PhD, is Associate Professor Emeritus in the School of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership in the College of Community Innovation and Education, University of Central Florida, Orlando and Senior Adjunct Professor/Dissertation Chair/Methodologist for College of Doctoral Studies, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona. His research interests include the teaching of reading and writing, and specifically the teaching of young adult literature across the curriculum. Dr. Kaplan is Past President of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (2012-13), a division of the National Council Teachers of English and the co-editor of Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, 2016) and Chair National Council Teachers of English Standing Committee Against Censorship (2014-17). He can be reached at [email protected] |  |
Read Any Good Dissertations, Lately? by Jeffrey S. Kaplan
Read any good dissertations, lately? I have. In my retirement (achem) years, I spend my days reading, writing, traveling, hiking, walking, and reading dissertations. As an adjunct faculty member with the College of Doctoral Studies of Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, Arizona), I have the privilege and honor of working with graduate students pursuing a doctoral degree. Although the disciplines vary, the objective is always the same – the pursuit of a noble idea.
As a faculty member for nearly thirty years in the College of Education and Community Innovation at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, I taught undergraduate and graduate students preparing to become teachers, administrators, and educational leaders. I served on honors thesis and dissertation committees, each underscored by dedicated students and teachers empowered with the notion – that ‘truth’ matters. The pursuit of scholarship – for the sake of scholarship is a lonely pursuit – but that doesn’t make it any less noble or worthy.
I bring the notion of ‘truth’ and ‘nobility’ up for a reason. We are under attack. Scholars, academics, and students – all desiring to know more about their subject matter – and to separate what is known from what is not known – are seemingly treading water in an arena where ‘truth’ becomes susceptible to public opinion. And ‘public opinion’ becomes subject to ‘whim.’
Do you think it is true? Well so, be it.
What does this have to do with young adult literature? Plenty.
As a faculty member for nearly thirty years in the College of Education and Community Innovation at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, I taught undergraduate and graduate students preparing to become teachers, administrators, and educational leaders. I served on honors thesis and dissertation committees, each underscored by dedicated students and teachers empowered with the notion – that ‘truth’ matters. The pursuit of scholarship – for the sake of scholarship is a lonely pursuit – but that doesn’t make it any less noble or worthy.
I bring the notion of ‘truth’ and ‘nobility’ up for a reason. We are under attack. Scholars, academics, and students – all desiring to know more about their subject matter – and to separate what is known from what is not known – are seemingly treading water in an arena where ‘truth’ becomes susceptible to public opinion. And ‘public opinion’ becomes subject to ‘whim.’
Do you think it is true? Well so, be it.
What does this have to do with young adult literature? Plenty.
I have always been attracted to people who have gone to the wall for an ‘idea.’ Money is important – and we all know that when it comes to paying the ‘rent’, noble ideas can always go so far. But when it comes to exploring the truth – and those who have the privilege to do so – academics, scientists, reporters, - the pursuit of the truth is an ambition filled with complexity and desire that few can dispute has merit beyond words
.
To stand next to someone who has devoted their life to an idea – no matter how tenuous and vague that idea might be – is awesome. Where would we be without Galileo? Einstein? Martin Luther King, Jr? Judy Blume? Or Robert Cormier?
.
To stand next to someone who has devoted their life to an idea – no matter how tenuous and vague that idea might be – is awesome. Where would we be without Galileo? Einstein? Martin Luther King, Jr? Judy Blume? Or Robert Cormier?
Robert Cormeir
Robert Cormier, you say? Robert Cormier was an American writer and journalist (1925 – 2000) known primarily for his ground-breaking novel, The Chocolate War (Pantheon Books, 1974) about one teen’s lonely and embattled quest to defy a request to comply with his private school’s culture and fundraiser. Refusing to sell chocolates for an annual school fundraising event, Jerry, a freshman attending a fictional Catholic high school, defies convention and refuses to sell – in direct confrontation to students and an administrator who he senses is using intimidation to force his cooperation.
Because of The Chocolate War’s frank language, violence, and sexual ponderings, this haunting fictional work of adolescent angst remains consistently on the lists of top challenged books for young adults. After all, open defiance of cultural norms is always a safe bet for having a book land on a list of works most censored by adults refusing to let kids reads work of significant consequence. And this work was no exception.
(I know. My mother, a seventh-grade English teacher, taught this book to her students – but not before receiving permission from her administrators and parents alike. Better to be safe, than jobless..)
Because of The Chocolate War’s frank language, violence, and sexual ponderings, this haunting fictional work of adolescent angst remains consistently on the lists of top challenged books for young adults. After all, open defiance of cultural norms is always a safe bet for having a book land on a list of works most censored by adults refusing to let kids reads work of significant consequence. And this work was no exception.
(I know. My mother, a seventh-grade English teacher, taught this book to her students – but not before receiving permission from her administrators and parents alike. Better to be safe, than jobless..)
Dissertations and the Pursuit of Truth
And so it is with scholarship. The truth matters. I chair and review dissertations – whether they be in education, health, psychology, or business – that for the most part, research issues of social justice. The students I work with – many of them educators, nurses, social workers, business owners, and the like – are all imbued with a sense of purpose and desire to pursue a noble ambition for its own sake. They want to make their mark in the world – by researching, writing, and sharing – a personal and professional pursuit of their version of what is true and right and just.
And nothing could be ‘nobler.’
The same is true with the many educators and scholars I have known who are devoted to the study of young adult literature. Their lives – and their stories – remain most impressive to both those who know them well – and those who know them for the good work they have done – and continue to do. They – meaning the professionals who share at local, state and national conferences – and contribute to state, national, and international peer-reviewed journals – do so not for monetary reward – or even recognition – but, for the glory of sharing the truth to those who care – and those who aspire to do the same.
Dissertation writing is not an easy task. As I tell my students, writing a dissertation is a long, technical document – which comes with its own vagaries and stylistic peculiarities. No two dissertations are the same and no two dissertations will remain immutable. Research is always changing – and today’s version of what is true and good is always changing. What we know today to be relevant and real, will often be surpassed tomorrow by a new discovery or new author.
Yet, what remains constant is the pursuit of the ‘truth.’ And what that means to our field of study – young adult literature and the teaching of young adult literature – is our guiding “north star.’ True, our teaching is always being challenged – but our vision of what is true and good is always noble and worth pursuing.
And nothing could be ‘nobler.’
The same is true with the many educators and scholars I have known who are devoted to the study of young adult literature. Their lives – and their stories – remain most impressive to both those who know them well – and those who know them for the good work they have done – and continue to do. They – meaning the professionals who share at local, state and national conferences – and contribute to state, national, and international peer-reviewed journals – do so not for monetary reward – or even recognition – but, for the glory of sharing the truth to those who care – and those who aspire to do the same.
Dissertation writing is not an easy task. As I tell my students, writing a dissertation is a long, technical document – which comes with its own vagaries and stylistic peculiarities. No two dissertations are the same and no two dissertations will remain immutable. Research is always changing – and today’s version of what is true and good is always changing. What we know today to be relevant and real, will often be surpassed tomorrow by a new discovery or new author.
Yet, what remains constant is the pursuit of the ‘truth.’ And what that means to our field of study – young adult literature and the teaching of young adult literature – is our guiding “north star.’ True, our teaching is always being challenged – but our vision of what is true and good is always noble and worth pursuing.
Recent Dissertations about Young Adult Literature
A quick glance at the handful of recent dissertations about literature for adolescents reveals how immutable scholarship can and should be. For how intriguing these titles are:
Falling Down the Stairs & Finding Vitality: Exploring Student Response to Banned Books Through Political, Feminist, & Schoolish Discourses in a High School Book Club
Priske, Katie
The University of Iowa ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 32164571.
Emerging Agency in Caribbean Young Adult Literature
Ramos Muñoz, Elvin
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras (Puerto Rico) ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 32400182.
“It’s Time to Get Personal”: Cultivating Spaces of Acompañamiento With Latinx Youth Through Latinx Young Adult Literature Book Clubs
Saco, Sandra Mariella
Arizona State University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 31997904.
Drawing the Line: Visible and Invisible Disability, Identity, and Intersectionality in Award-Winning Graphic Novels for Teens
Nixon, Gwendolyn C
The University of Alabama ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 32118113.
So that it Might Be Different For You: The Intersection of Adolescents/CE, Legal Culture, and Sexual Violence in Young Adult Literature
Fine, Jamie M
. Stanford University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2023. 31049681.
Storytelling, Identity Development, and Decolonial Pedagogies: Frameworks for Teaching Indigenous Literatures of the Great Lakes to Young Adult Readers
Cary, Katie M
. The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2022. 29208295.
And these are only a handful of powerful and recent dissertations that can be found online – most notably in the dissertation search engine – ProQuest. Each dissertation is worthy of our applause – and each worthy of skimming, perusing, highlighting, and sharing – for the insights they provide for our knowledge, our profession, and our understanding of what makes a more human and empathetic society of learners in pursuit of what is true and good for young people.
Falling Down the Stairs & Finding Vitality: Exploring Student Response to Banned Books Through Political, Feminist, & Schoolish Discourses in a High School Book Club
Priske, Katie
The University of Iowa ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 32164571.
Emerging Agency in Caribbean Young Adult Literature
Ramos Muñoz, Elvin
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras (Puerto Rico) ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 32400182.
“It’s Time to Get Personal”: Cultivating Spaces of Acompañamiento With Latinx Youth Through Latinx Young Adult Literature Book Clubs
Saco, Sandra Mariella
Arizona State University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 31997904.
Drawing the Line: Visible and Invisible Disability, Identity, and Intersectionality in Award-Winning Graphic Novels for Teens
Nixon, Gwendolyn C
The University of Alabama ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025. 32118113.
So that it Might Be Different For You: The Intersection of Adolescents/CE, Legal Culture, and Sexual Violence in Young Adult Literature
Fine, Jamie M
. Stanford University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2023. 31049681.
Storytelling, Identity Development, and Decolonial Pedagogies: Frameworks for Teaching Indigenous Literatures of the Great Lakes to Young Adult Readers
Cary, Katie M
. The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2022. 29208295.
And these are only a handful of powerful and recent dissertations that can be found online – most notably in the dissertation search engine – ProQuest. Each dissertation is worthy of our applause – and each worthy of skimming, perusing, highlighting, and sharing – for the insights they provide for our knowledge, our profession, and our understanding of what makes a more human and empathetic society of learners in pursuit of what is true and good for young people.
Unsung Scholars
The same is true for the unsung scholars – leaders in the field of young adult literature – who put pen to paper (so to speak) – and illuminate what they know to be true and good and insightful – about the study of ‘good books for good kids.’
There are many, many seminal works about the study of young adult literature that deserve our praise. They deserve commendation for the comfort they bring us and the insights they share about what it means to be a scholar of reading for adolescents. Some of the innumerable notable works include:
Literature for Today’s Young Adults (Pearson, 2012) by Alleen Nilsen, James Blasingame, Kenneth Donelson, Don Nilsen
How Young Adult Literature Gets Taught (Routledge, 2022) edited by Steven Bickmore, T. Hunter Strickland, and Stacy Gaber
Identity, Criticality, and Advocacy in Young Adult Literature (Routledge, 2026) edited by Stefany Comfort Maher and Alice Hays
The Oxford Handbook of Young Adult Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026) edited by Victor Malo-Juvera and Crag Hill.
Young Adult Literature in Action (Bloomsbury, 2026) by Rose Brock
There are many, many seminal works about the study of young adult literature that deserve our praise. They deserve commendation for the comfort they bring us and the insights they share about what it means to be a scholar of reading for adolescents. Some of the innumerable notable works include:
Literature for Today’s Young Adults (Pearson, 2012) by Alleen Nilsen, James Blasingame, Kenneth Donelson, Don Nilsen
How Young Adult Literature Gets Taught (Routledge, 2022) edited by Steven Bickmore, T. Hunter Strickland, and Stacy Gaber
Identity, Criticality, and Advocacy in Young Adult Literature (Routledge, 2026) edited by Stefany Comfort Maher and Alice Hays
The Oxford Handbook of Young Adult Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026) edited by Victor Malo-Juvera and Crag Hill.
Young Adult Literature in Action (Bloomsbury, 2026) by Rose Brock
As said, I have mentioned are only a few of the numerous books, dissertation, monographs, research articles, opinion pieces, and the like by emerging and established scholars. These everyday heroes spend their days (and evenings) working tirelessly to spread their concept of the ‘truth’ about the power and agency involved in studying and advocating reading for adolescents. There is no immediate reward or glory in their pursuit – only the satisfaction of a job well-done.
There is ‘no golden rainbow’ or “corner office with a panoramic view’ waiting for my dissertation students when they finish their research. Often, they return to the same position they had when they started. Teachers return to their classrooms, nurses return to their rounds, social workers to their casework, etc.; they simply leave with the satisfaction of a job well done – and the feeling that they have accomplished something ‘noble.’
In Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, Jerry, our young hero, is inspired to rebel against his conspiring and cruelly manipulative school pranksters and one accommodating vice-principal. Inside his school locker hangs the inspiring quote by the renowned T. S. Eliot– “Do I dare disturb the universe?”
And indeed, he does. And so do the many educators of young adult literature in pursuit of the truth.
There is ‘no golden rainbow’ or “corner office with a panoramic view’ waiting for my dissertation students when they finish their research. Often, they return to the same position they had when they started. Teachers return to their classrooms, nurses return to their rounds, social workers to their casework, etc.; they simply leave with the satisfaction of a job well done – and the feeling that they have accomplished something ‘noble.’
In Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, Jerry, our young hero, is inspired to rebel against his conspiring and cruelly manipulative school pranksters and one accommodating vice-principal. Inside his school locker hangs the inspiring quote by the renowned T. S. Eliot– “Do I dare disturb the universe?”
And indeed, he does. And so do the many educators of young adult literature in pursuit of the truth.
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