Weird Fiction Research Group kindly invites you to the third Weird TV meeting in spring semester. ASC student, Julia Michalak, will introduce you into the subject of Horror in Kids’s Movies!

Tuesday, March 18, 2025
5 pm

*3 OZN*

Where?

Dobra 55, room: 2.118
(the building features some mobility accommodations: ramp and lift)

What?

Horror in children’s media has evolved significantly over the years, carefully balancing fear with resolution while reflecting changing cultural perceptions of childhood and psychological development. In this presentation, I will explore how children’s horror differs from adult horror and examine the core fears that often shape these stories—such as abandonment, transformation, and loss of control. I will also discuss the history of children’s horror and how standards for what is considered “acceptable” have shifted over time. Early films like Snow White (1937), Pinocchio (1940), and Bambi (1942) featured dark and unsettling themes, using fear to reinforce moral lessons and evoke strong emotions. Over time, regulatory systems such as the Hays Code and the MPAA rating system sought to define appropriate content for young audiences, though films like Gremlins (1984) and Batman Returns (1992) still sparked controversy for their intensity. In recent years, children’s horror has become more psychologically mindful, with films like Inside Out (2015) focusing on emotional understanding of anxiety and fear. This presentation will explore whether modern children’s media has become overly protective or if it has found a healthier way to engage with fear. By comparing past and present approaches to horror in children’s films, I will examine its evolving role, psychological impact, and the balance between caution and creative expression in shaping young audiences’ emotional resilience.

Who?

Julia Michalak is a third-year BA student at the American Studies Center of the University of Warsaw. Her academic interests include American pop culture, graphic novels, gender studies and digital preservation. She is currently writing her BA thesis on graphic memoirs that explore unconventional perspectives of the Civil Rights era.

News

Celebrating 100 Years of the Kosciuszko Foundation

October 24, 2025

We are extremely proud that the ASC’s alumnus Marek Skulimowski, who serves as the President and Executive Director of the Kosciuszko Foundation, was today granted the Senate Medal of the Republic of Poland. 

Year 2025/2026

Nov 5: “What About Us, the Women From the Provinces?” On the Importance of Non-Metropolitan Perspectives in Queer Studies

October 23, 2025

The Gender/Sexuality Research Group is pleased to invite you to a guest lecture by Dr. Mathias Foit from the University of Padua.

News

Call for Papers: “Post-Soviet Jewish Writing in Germany and North America: Textual, Cultural and Political Diasporic Networks”

October 22, 2025

As the next step within her IDUB Tandems for Excellence grant, Professor Karolina Krasuska is co-organizing a conference with the Institute of Languages, Cultures, and Societies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, titled: “Post-Soviet Jewish Writing in Germany and North America: Textual, Cultural, and Political Diasporic Networks.”

Year 2025/2026

Oct 24: Ukorzenianie/wykorzenianie: spacer etnobotaniczny i warsztat kolażowy

October 16, 2025

We’re cordially inviting you to the second event in the “Wiedze u-korzenione” series co-organized by the Weird Fictions Research Group and Centrum Humanistyki Środowiskowej UW.

News

Call for Participants: 24th Transatlantic Symposium 2025 on “Disability and Care”

October 16, 2025

Dr. Natalia Pamuła and Prof. Tomasz Basiuk are calling a meeting of ASC MA students interested in participating in the upcoming edition of the Transatlantic Symposium, an international graduate student conference held annually and preceded by a series of informal preparatory seminars.