2024-2025 Catalog

SF-182 Heroes, Antiheroes and Outsiders: Reading the Graphic Novel

How is it that comics, a genre often viewed as entertainment for children and adolescents, has become one of the most exciting forms of narrative and visual art? To answer this question, this seminar will examine a range of graphic novels, from those that celebrate their origins in superhero comics, such as Alan Moores Watchmen, to those that treat subjects not usually considered proper to the comics genre, such as Art Spiegelmans Maus, about the Holocaust, and Alison Bechdels Fun Home, about the complexities of sexual identity. As we read these works, we will look at how the combination of words and still images makes the graphic novel a unique storytelling form, as well as how artists and writers push the envelope to create new styles and challenge our expectations. In addition to class discussions and writing assignments, we will take a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts and create a collaborative group graphic novel step-by-step over the course of the semester (all abilities welcome).

Credits

4

Prerequisite

Student has satisfied all of the following Academic Unit (Computed) in the selection list Advertising Public Relations and Social Media, Art and Design, Biology, Biology and Radiation Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, Communication Journalism and Media, Economics, English, Environmental Science and Studies, History Language and Global Culture, INTO College of Arts and Sciences, Math and Computer Science, Medical Dosimetry, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science and Legal Studies, Psychology, Radiation Sciences, Sociology and Criminal Justice ... And Student has satisfied all of the following Latest Class Standing in the selection list Freshman