{"id":76,"date":"2017-12-11T11:49:43","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T16:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/?p=76"},"modified":"2018-04-12T14:59:28","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T18:59:28","slug":"a-briefish-history-of-comics-studies-unt-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2017\/12\/11\/a-briefish-history-of-comics-studies-unt-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief(ish) History of Comics Studies @UNT Libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\r\n

Comics studies at UNT dates back to at least 2011 when Dr. Shaun Treat, a Communications Studies faculty member, organized the first UNT Comic Studies Conference.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>This was a\u00a0scholarly and pedagogical conference devoted to, \u201cbroadly surveying the diverse disciplinary approaches to studying or using comics as a resource for education, criticism, or critical engagement with relevant social issues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Facebook<\/a>

Facebook page for the UNT Comics Studies Conference<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The conference included sessions on Teaching Comics across the Curriculum<\/em>, Analyzing Comics and Culture<\/em>, Exploring Comics in Communities<\/em>, and Integrating Comics in the Classroom<\/em>. In addition to scholars and educators, the conference also invited local creators, comic shop owners, and industry professionals, as well as special guest speakers, and helped build an active community of comics studies enthusiasts in the UNT community. The conference ran for two years, until 2014, when the last event was canceled due to poor weather. While the conference itself has not been revived, the UNT Comics Studies Conference Facebook page<\/a> remains an active site for news and local comics-related events.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Hand-drawn<\/a>

Hand-drawn flier for the “Monstrous Women in Comics Conference”, May 26-27, 2017<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

In May of 2017, another group of UNT faculty members, led by Dr. Samantha Langsdale, from the Philosophy & Religion department, organized the Monstrous Women in Comics Conference<\/a><\/strong>, an interdisciplinary academic conference focused on the relationship between women and the comics industry. The conference drew on feminist scholarship and recent iterations of Monster Studies to develop a call-for-papers that invited \u201cinterdisciplinary examinations of monstrous women in comics not only in order to critically question and contest normative boundaries, but also to begin to imagine how the relationship between women and comics might be otherwise.\u201d\u00a0 The conference featured panels, individual papers, guest speakers, and a pop-up exhibition of artwork by women creators.<\/p>\r\n

Coinciding with the Monstrous Women<\/em> conference was an exhibit at the UNT Libraries entitled \u201cBam! Pow! Boom! Comics in the Library<\/strong>\u201d<\/a>, which ran from April-August of 2017, and was curated by Dr. Spencer Keralis, Head of Digital Humanities & Collaborative Programs, and Dr. John Martin, Scholarly Communication Librarian. This exhibit grew out of a series of discussions, beginning in March of 2017, with librarians and staff from across the Libraries about organizing a series of events around comics to take advantage of some of our unique collections and diverse expertise, as well as to support those faculty and classes that might be interested in using these materials. It included contributions from our own Library\u2019s Graphic Novels and General collections, our Government Documents repository, the Texas Fashion Collection, the UNT Music Library, and Special Collections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Poster<\/a>

Poster for Bam! Pow! Boom! Comics in the Library Exhibit<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The exhibit featured sections on queer comics, international comics, African-American, Native American, and Asian-American comics, women in comics, government comics, and comics-themed items related to fashion, music, film, and television.\u00a0 The display (seen below) utilized the three primary colors used in comics printing throughout much of the 20th<\/sup> century to give the exhibit a bright, vibrant look and to draw people into the exhibit space. Hundreds of students and visitors had the opportunity to view the exhibit during its four-month run, including attendees at the Monstrous Women<\/em> conference and students from a local middle-school.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\""Comics

“Comics in the Library” Exhibit at UNT Willis Library, April 10th-August 15th, 2017<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The opening of the exhibit also featured a panel discussion,\u00a0\u201cComics in the Academy<\/strong>\u201d<\/a>, that included faculty from UNT and Texas Christian University discussing some of the ways they use comics in their scholarship and teaching. The nearly two-hour discussion gave attendees an opportunity to talk about their own interest in and love for comics, and to hear how scholars from different disciplines approach comics through their own unique lenses.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Slide

“Comics in the Academy” Panel Presentation at Willis Library, April 2017<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

After the exhibit, the Libraries held several follow-up events to keep the momentum going. In June of 2017, we hosted a webinar and virtual chat with poet, cartoonist, and librarian Sommer Browning<\/a>, who talked about \u201cComics as Poetry\u201d and how the two forms come together in her work. In July 2017, we held a film screening<\/a> and discussion of Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Superheroines<\/em>, at the UNT Media Library<\/a>. And in the Fall of 2017, the Libraries\u2019 Collection Development department approved funds for an enhancement to our Graphic Novel Collection for the coming year (see our post on \u201cComics Studies Resources @UNT<\/a><\/strong>\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Looking forward, we have several events planned for the Spring of 2018, including the launch of a Comics Studies Reading Group , a Pop-Up Museum<\/a> event, and one or more film-screenings that will be open to the public.\u00a0 We also hope to offer continued support and space for new courses utilizing comics and graphic novels, for researchers interested in comics studies materials, and for speakers on comics-related topics from a range of disciplines.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

In subsequent blog posts, some of our faculty and staff will share the work they\u2019ve been doing with comics, either in the classroom, at conferences, or in their scholarly research and writing. \u00a0Hopefully, new ideas will emerge from this blog for continued programming at the Libraries and in the broader UNT community.<\/p>\r\n

If you have ideas, reflections, or questions about any of these things, or ideas for new events, please share them in the comments below!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"  Comics studies at UNT dates back to at least 2011 when Dr. Shaun Treat, a Communications Studies faculty member, organized the first UNT Comic Studies Conference.\u00a0 \u00a0This was a\u00a0scholarly and pedagogical conference devoted to, \u201cbroadly surveying the diverse disciplinary approaches to studying or using comics as a resource for education, criticism, or critical engagement… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":79,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[19,12,11],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-libraries","tag-comics-studies","tag-libraries","tag-scholarship"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/unt-comics-studies-conference.jpg?fit=916%2C528&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9noXX-1e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":707,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2023\/03\/28\/register-now-for-the-2023-comics-studies-society-conference-at-unt\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":0},"title":"Register now for the 2023 Comics Studies Society Conference at UNT!","author":"John","date":"March 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Registration is now open for the 2023 Comics Studies Society Conference, \"Comics on the Margins,\" coming to UNT this summer (July 27-29, 2023) at the Gateway Center https:\/\/comicsstudies.org\/2023-conference\/ This event will feature an Artist's Alley, exhibit tables by publishers and libraries, scholarly panels, workshops, a cosplay happy hour, and keynotes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics Events"","block_context":{"text":"Comics Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/comics-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Comics Studies Society, Conference, \"Comics on The Margins\".","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/03\/css-registration.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/03\/css-registration.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/03\/css-registration.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/03\/css-registration.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/03\/css-registration.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":740,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2023\/08\/21\/a-successful-comics-studies-society-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":1},"title":"A Successful Comics Studies Society Conference!","author":"John","date":"August 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 At the end of July 2023, UNT hosted the annual Comics Studies Society Conference at the UNT Gateway Center. The conference included over 150 registered attendees, online and in-person, plus over a dozen artists, publishers, and libraries represented in the Artist\u2019s Alley, which was open to the public. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics Events"","block_context":{"text":"Comics Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/comics-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sticker that says \"The Comics Studies Society\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/css2023_sticker-e1777402880939.jpg?fit=800%2C420&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/css2023_sticker-e1777402880939.jpg?fit=800%2C420&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/css2023_sticker-e1777402880939.jpg?fit=800%2C420&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/css2023_sticker-e1777402880939.jpg?fit=800%2C420&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":827,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2024\/08\/15\/whats-happening-with-comics-studies-at-unt\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":2},"title":"What’s happening with Comics Studies at UNT?","author":"John","date":"August 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back, everyone, to the Fall 2024 semester and a new year of school, work, and Comics Studies at UNT! We've got lots of updates on our Comics Studies initiative and other comics-related events and activities happening at UNT. Over the last two years, our Comics Studies community has grown\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics Events"","block_context":{"text":"Comics Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/comics-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":723,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2023\/07\/07\/exciting-developments-in-comics-studies-at-unt-libraries\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":3},"title":"Exciting developments in Comics Studies at UNT Libraries","author":"John","date":"July 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 As of this Summer 2023, \"Comics Studies\" is now an official subject area in the UNT Libraries Public Services division, and John Martin has been designated as the subject librarian for comics studies. In addition to providing research, reference, and instructional support for patrons and courses at UNT, subject\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/07\/Archie-archive-1.png?fit=747%2C449&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/07\/Archie-archive-1.png?fit=747%2C449&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/07\/Archie-archive-1.png?fit=747%2C449&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/07\/Archie-archive-1.png?fit=747%2C449&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":688,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2023\/01\/11\/comics-on-the-margins-2023-comics-studies-society-conference-coming-to-unt\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":4},"title":"“Comics on the Margins”: 2023 Comics Studies Society Conference coming to UNT","author":"John","date":"January 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We're excited to share the news that the 2023 Comics Studies Society Annual Conference, \"Comics on the Margins\", is coming to the University of North Texas, July 27-29, 2023! \"The Comics Studies Society (CSS) is an interdisciplinary society open to all who share the goals of promoting the critical study\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics Events"","block_context":{"text":"Comics Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/comics-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Comics Studies Society, \"Comics on the Margins\" poster","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/01\/Comics-Studies-Society-Poster-225x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2017\/10\/20\/welcome\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":5},"title":"Welcome to Comics Studies @UNT!","author":"John","date":"October 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the brand new Comics Studies at UNT Blog! This blog is a project of the UNT Libraries, and will include contributors from across the Libraries' divisions, as well as from faculty, students, and others in the UNT community who share an interest in comics studies.","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Poster for \"Comics in the Library\" Exhibit, April-August, 2017","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}