Interest in studying comics is at an all-time high, and no wonder: comics are tuned into what's happening now, in these contentious, politically volatile times, and their mix of words, images, and symbols provides a vital tool for exploring divisive issues, including urgent questions of identity, nation, equity, justice, and power. With that in mind, on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, at 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., in Jerome Richfield Hall 352, Comics@CSUN will present a roundtable discussion titled Teaching Graphic Novels in Interesting Times, or, Social Engagement through Comics. Please join us for a spirited discussion of what comics can mean, and do, in this, an era of sharp divisions and heated debate over what our country should become.
This event is CSUN's contribution to Will Eisner Week, an annual celebration of sequential art, the graphic novel, and free speech sponsored by the Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation. Eisner (1917-2005) was a pioneering comics creator, publisher, and teacher whose early work broke new ground for comic books and who later championed the graphic novel genre and the use of comics in education. The Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the most prestigious awards in the American comics field, are named for him. (Two CSUN professors in the Comics@CSUN group, Frances Gateward of CTVA and Charles Hatfield of English, have won Eisner Awards for Best Academic/Scholarly Work.)
Professors Nicole Eschen Solis, Sean Pessin, and Charles Hatfield, all teachers of the popular GE course English 333: Comics and Graphic Novels, will share examples and reflections drawn from the classroom, and then join with the audience in a free-form discussion. English 333 was founded in 2005, and its surge in popularity over the past five years has led to the creation of Comics@CSUN, which has sponsored diverse activities on campus, including a CSUN Gallery exhibition, a conference devoted to student research, a film screening series, and various speakers. With this roundtable, Comics@CSUN hopes to further the discussion of comics as a social and political phenomenon as well as an art form.
Teaching Graphic Novels in Interesting Times is a free event, open to the CSUN community and larger public. We at Comics@CSUN hope you can join us for the conversation!