Comics Studies: Histories, Methodologies, Genres
| Module title | Comics Studies: Histories, Methodologies, Genres |
|---|---|
| Module code | AHV2018 |
| Academic year | 2024/5 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Dr Paul Williams (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 20 |
|---|
Module description
This module will introduce you to the academic analysis of the medium of comics, focusing on the ‘comic book’, graphic novel, and webcomic. The course includes key moments in comics history, different methodological approaches, and significant genres, with a final week contemplating the state of comics in the twenty-first century. Comics Studies runs from the 1820s to the present and includes comics from the US, Franco-Belgian, and British industries.
This is an interdisciplinary module suitable for students studying AHVC, Creative Writing, English, Film and TV, and Communications. There are no pre-requisite or co-requisite modules.
Students who choose AHV2018 as a Creative Writing module must complete a creative piece and self-reflective essay as the final assessment on the module. Other students can choose between submitting a 3,000-word essay OR a creative piece and self-reflective essay.
Module aims - intentions of the module
Have you always wanted to study comics but didn’t know where to start? Comics Studies will introduce you to the key moments that shaped the history of the medium and some of its landmark texts. We will look at physically different types of comic (primarily graphic novels, periodicals, and webcomics) and think about how their materiality makes meaning in addition to the words and images.
This module also introduces students to the various methods that comics scholars deploy, from close-reading texts to sociological accounts of fandom, from studying sales figures to the history of industry self-regulation. After being confronted with multiple methodologies, students are encouraged to make connections between different weeks and to pursue interdisciplinary approaches to Comics Studies.
As well as online resources such as the Underground and Independent Comics database, students benefit from the material held in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. Seminar teaching will draw upon these archives and think about the relationship between early comics and popular visual culture. For instance, zoopraxography and magic lantern slides both translate temporal change into sequences of images, and we can see their evident influence on the formation of comics’ signifying systems.
Comics Studies moves from the origins of comics in the nineteenth century all the way through to the digital present, and will equip students for further intellectual adventures into the study of sequential art.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate an informed critical understanding of key moments in comics history
- 2. Use and critically evaluate the dominant concepts, methods, and debates in Comics Studies
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Demonstrate an ability to understand and analyse theoretical concepts, and to apply these ideas to visual culture
- 4. Demonstrate an ability to situate visual culture texts in their formal, social, and economic contexts
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Demonstrate a basic capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to express ideas in clear, correct English
- 6. Demonstrate basic proficiency in research and bibliographical skills, information retrieval, analysis and sharing
- 7. Demonstrate an ability to work creatively and imaginatively both individually and in groups
- 8. Question assumptions and distinguish between fact and opinion
Syllabus plan
Comics Studies covers an array of topics and texts going back to the early nineteenth century, though the bulk of teaching concentrates on twentieth- and twenty-first-century comics. We will examine comics in a variety of material forms, especially graphic novels, periodicals (or ‘comic books’), and webcomics. The emphasis is on comics from North America, though we consider work from elsewhere in the English-speaking world as well as a handful of Franco-Belgian texts.
It is likely that we will consider subjects such as:
- The origins of comics
- Intermediality
- Censorship
- Form and style
- Legitimacy and cultural value
- Distribution and retail
- Autobiography
- Webcomics
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | 267 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 11 | Lectures (11 x 1 hour) |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 22 | Seminars (11 x 2 hours) |
| Guided Independent Study | 60 | Seminar preparation (individual) |
| Guided Independent Study | 30 | Group presentation preparation |
| Guided Independent Study | 177 | Reading, research, and assessment preparation (individual) |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Presentation | 15-20 minutes per group | 1-8 | Oral feedback with opportunity for office hours follow-up |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 10 | Formal analysis & censorship task | 1-8 | Written feedback plus office hours follow-up |
| Curation of an exhibition of comics art | 45 | (i) 400-word introduction, (ii) 8-10 pieces of comics art (200 words accompanying each), (iii) diagrams, floorplans, promotional designs | 1-8 | Written feedback plus office hours follow-up |
| (i) Essay OR (ii) Creative Submission and Self-Reflective Essay | 45 | (i) 3000 words OR (ii) 5-6 page comic and 1250-word self-reflective essay | 1-8 | Written feedback plus office hours follow-up |
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Portfolio | 1-8 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Curation of an exhibition of comics art - (i) 400-word introduction, (ii) 8-10 pieces of comics art (200 words accompanying each), (iii) diagrams, floorplans, promotional designs | Curation of an exhibition of comics art - (i) 400-word introduction, (ii) 8-10 pieces of comics art (200 words accompanying each), (iii) diagrams, floorplans, promotional designs | 1-8 | Referral/Deferral period |
| (i) Essay (3000 words) OR (ii) Creative Submission and Self-Reflective Essay (5-6 page comic and 1250-word self-reflective essay) | (i) Essay (3000 words) OR (ii) Creative Submission and Self-Reflective Essay (5-6 page comic and 1250-word self-reflective essay) | 1-8 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Ahmed and Crucifix, eds, Comics Memory: Archives and Styles (Palgrave, 2018)
Baetens and Frey, The Graphic Novel: An Introduction (Cambridge UP, 2015)
Beaty, Comics versus Art (U of Toronto P, 2012)
Gabilliet, Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books (UP of Mississippi, 2010)
Groensteen, Comics and Narration (UP of Mississippi, 2013)
Hatfield, Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature (UP of Mississippi, 2005)
Miller, Reading Bande Dessinee: Critical Approaches to French-language Comic Strip (Intellect, 2007)
Nyberg, Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code (UP of Mississippi, 1998)
Sabin, Adult Comics: An Introduction (Routledge, 1993)
Whitted, EC Comics: Race, Shock and Social Protest (Rutgers UP, 2019)
Williams, Dreaming the Graphic Novel: The Novelization of Comics (Rutgers UP, 2020)
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Underground and Independent Comics (https://search-alexanderstreet-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/comx)
Grand Comics Database (https://www.comics.org/)
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
Students have access to the material housed in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, which includes historical comics and adjacent media.
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 5 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 21/06/2021 |
| Last revision date | 30/11/2023 |
