Graphic History: Teaching with Comic Books (Underhill 2022)
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While many titles like Maus (Art Spiegelman), Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi), and Footnotes in Gaza (Joe Sacco) appear on history curriculum lists, Graphic History - the teaching of history with comic books and graphic novels - is still a relatively new vocational practice, even in public history and popular culture. This short presentation for the Underhill Colloquium 2022 has two aims: (1) to briefly analyze historical reasons for why graphic history as a format is still sparse in the teaching of public history - including the 1952/53 Canadian Senate Hearings on comic books and other salacious literature (2) to introduce new titles and genres of graphic history (such as graphic medicine or comics for studies of migration) as well as new platforms like the political op-ed webcomic platform, The Nib, for teaching and reflecting history.
Graphic History: Teaching with Comic Books (Underhill 2022)
- 1. Graphic History: Teaching with Comic Books Underhill Colloquium March 18, 2022 Amie Wright (she/her) PhD Student Carleton University - sporadic tweeter @librarylandia
- 2. AGENDA: - Introduction: Why are we here? - A (Very) Brief History of Comics Censorship - History & Comics: A Brief History - Comics NOW: The Canon - and Beyond - Why does this matter in 2022?
- 4. Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize winning Maus series is perhaps the most commonly utilized, particularly within classes that focus on the Second World War and the Holocaust. It is not, however, the only available option for historians. There are a number of lesser-known, but equally compelling texts that explore war, displacement, and genocide in a variety of different contexts. Thus far, very little has been written about these less familiar comics. Alicia C. Decker and Mauricio Castro, Teaching History with Comic Books: A Case Study of Violence, War, and the Graphic Novel in The History Teacher Vol. 45 No. 2 February 2012
- 7. If we consider it necessary to safeguard the physical well-being of our children, is it not natural that their minds, which should control their bodies, must be given even greater protection? The Senate of Canada. Proceedings of the Special Committee on Sale and Distribution of Salacious and Indecent Literature (1952-1953)
- 8. "Mr. Chairman, I am just a doctor. I cant tell what the remedy is. I can only say that in my opinion this is a public- health problem." "...I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic book industry. They get the children much younger. Dr. Frederic Wertham, The US Senate Hearings on Comic Books & Juvenile Delinquency (1954)
- 9. History & Comics: A Brief History
- 10. WWII: Comics included in Shipments
- 11. Canadian Whites circa WWII Golden Age 1941-1946
- 12. Golden Legacy A New Approach to the Study of History
- 13. Teaching History beyond the Comics Canon
- 16. Multivalence Having many values, meanings, or appeals. Impactful comics are multivalent. Comic Books as Historical Documents
- 18. Relevance & Importance in 2022
- 19. For history to be taught differently requires teachers and students to look at history in a new light. History no longer should be viewed as a fixed body of uncontested information. Students should be encouraged to imagine many possibilities when thinking of distant times, places, people, and ways of living. Chara Haeussler Bohan & O. L. Davis Jr., "Historical Constructions: How Social Studies Student Teachers' Historical Thinking is Reflected in Their Writing of History" in Theory & Research in Social Education Vol. 26 No. 2 1998
- 20. Thank you! Amie Wright (she/her) PhD Student Carleton University - sporadic tweeter @librarylandia
Editor's Notes
- Word balloons, panels, color choice, artist style all reflect different information about actions, perspectives, and motivation. Each comic has a wealth of detailed information embedded in its text waiting for students to decode!
- Word balloons, panels, color choice, artist style all reflect different information about actions, perspectives, and motivation. Each comic has a wealth of detailed information embedded in its text waiting for students to decode!
- Word balloons, panels, color choice, artist style all reflect different information about actions, perspectives, and motivation. Each comic has a wealth of detailed information embedded in its text waiting for students to decode!