Dr. Karen Coats

Biography

Karen Coats is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Research in Children’s Literature at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral work focused on Human Sciences, particularly how people create meaning through text and image. Coats draws from interdisciplinary theories and methodologies, working at the intersections of aesthetics, subjectivity, and ethics. She is primarily interested in how children’s literature cultures instantiate and inform worldviews at both conscious and unconscious levels. Her research emphasizes the critical engagement with children's texts through various lenses, including psychoanalysis, cognitive poetics, and literary cultural theory. Coats is involved in teaching postgraduate courses in research methods and critical approaches to children’s literature, as well as undergraduate courses that explore the interplay between children’s literature and play, creativity, and imagination. She welcomes contact from prospective PhD students dealing with children's and young adult literature. Coats has published extensively in the field, contributing to edited volumes and journals, and has received multiple awards for her scholarly contributions, including recognition from the Children's Literature Association.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards