FSEM 1111-27 Graphic Writing Across Cultures Syllabus, Fall 2014

8/11/2019 FSEM 1111-27 Graphic Writing Across Cultures Syllabus, Fall 2014

1/13

fsem 1111-27 ! ! graphicwriting.blogspot.com/

tr 10:002:50 ! !margery reed 106

.

john tiedemann! ! [email protected]

office: anderson academic !!office hours: tues. and thurs. 24,

commons 380U. .. and by appointment


2/13

!the class

The humble comic book, once derided as a frivolous form of adolescent

entertainment, has in recent decades given rise to an array of innovativeartistic forms that address themes formerly reserved for high culture and

academia. The mysteries of sex and death, the ambiguities of history and

politics, the arcana of philosophy and pure mathematics: all this and

more can be found in the pages of todays graphic novels, manga,

webcomics, and motion comics. In this course, we will examine the

unique opportunities for cross-cultural meaning-making afforded by the

combination of words and pictures in contemporary graphic writing.

We will consider how the mixed medium of graphic writing enables its

creators to tell stories that cut across boundaries of race, nation, gender,

class, religion, and sexuality.

In addition to reading and writing about graphic texts, students will

create a piece of graphic writing of their own, visit with working artists

and writers, and present their own work at a class colloquium.

(Please note that you do not need to be able to draw to take this

course.)


3/13

!course texts

Craig Thompson, Blankets.

Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings. Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.

Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivors Tale.

Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, Incognegro.

Gilbert Hernandez, Human Diastrophism.

You can purchase our course texts via this Amazon list:

http://goo.gl/qAIfK(or, of course, you via another online or local

bookseller, such as the Tattered Cover (http://www.tatteredcover.com/).

Please purchase all of your books right away. You need to have them in

time for us to discuss them, and My copy hasnt arrived yet isnt an

excuse to be unprepared for class.

Supplementary readings will be made available on Blackboard:

https://blackboard.du.edu/.


4/13

!major projects

In addition to completing weekly readings and informal writing

assignments, initiating class discussions, and taking part in ourconversations in and out of class, students will undertake two major

projects:

In the first, students will create a piece of graphic writing of their own,

combining words and pictures to tell a story of cultural difference.

In the second, students will write a critical analysis of a piece of

graphic writing, applying concepts learned from our scholarly

readings to a graphic text of their choosing.

Students will design their projects in consultation with me and will

complete them in stages, drafting and revising in response to feedback

from their teacher and classmates. Students will exhibit their work at a

class colloquium open to the University community.


5/13

!course goals and expectations

The goals of the First-Year Seminars are:

1. To discover what it means to be an active member of an intellectual

community by meeting rigorous academic expectations through

critical reading, discussion, research, and/or writing.

2. To practice newly acquired skills in an active learning environment.

3. To foster a strong academic advising relationships between teacher

and students.

To those ends and per our Discoveries Week discussions, you will:

1. Aim to be able to teach what youve learned in class.

2. Help your classmates to develop and present their ideas by leading

class discussion and participating actively in in-class workshops and

off-campus outings.

3. Meet regularly with me to discuss your work in our class and your other

classes and to plan for your future at DU.


6/13

!policies

Engagement

I expect you all to be active learners and thoughtful collaborators,

committed to the material, your work, and your peers learning. Your

level of engagement is made manifest in a number of ways, including

participation in class discussions, in workshops, in homework assignments,

and in your efforts to improve not only your own learning experience and

that of the class. I will assess your engagement as follows:

Superior engagement means that the student is always prepared,

often adding additional insights to online discussion and providingextensive feedback to writing. S/he demonstrates active learning via

consistently perceptive and energetic engagement with the material,

his or her peers, and the teacher.

Average engagement means that the student generally seems

prepared. Generally, his or her participation in discussion seems to

encourage and support others in the class. The students presence is

productive.

Weak engagement means that the students participation is listless,

lackluster, or only intermittent.


7/13

Attendance

Because interaction with others is a vital part of learning, I expect you to

attend every class meeting and scheduled conference. You are allowed

two absences without penalty; for each absence after the second one,your engagement grade will drop by a letter (e.g., from an A to a B, a B

to a C, etc.). If I determine that excessive absences have prevented you

from meeting the goals of the course, you may fail. If you miss a class,

you are personally responsible for learning about any missed material or

assignments, either from classmates or from our blog. I make no

distinction between excused and unexcused absences, so save yours for

illness or emergency.

Late Work

Assignments are due when they are due. I will accept late work only if you

have cleared the lateness with me in advance, and then only under the

most extenuating circumstances. An assignment that is turned in late

without clearance will be graded down a third of a letter grade (e.g., from

an A to an A, from an A to a B+) for each day its late.


8/13

Civility and Tolerance

This class affirms DUs Code of Student Conduct

(http://www.du.edu/ccs/code.html), which in part expects students to

recognize the strength of personal differences while respectinginstitutional values. Because writing courses rely heavily on interactions

between all members of the class, students and faculty must act in a

manner respectful of different positions and perspectives. A student who

behaves in an uncivil or intolerant manner will be asked to stop and/or

formally reprimanded and/or subject to action by the Office of

Citizenship and Community Standards.

Becoming educated requires encountering new ideas and information,

some of which may conflict with an individuals existing knowledge orperspectives. I expect students to engage such materials thoughtfully, in

ways that reflect the values and mission of the University of Denver

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

I will provide reasonable accommodations to any student who has a

disability that has been documented by The University of Denver Disability

Services Program (www.du.edu/disability/dsp or 303.871.2455).


9/13

Plagiarism

I follow the Council of Writing Program Administrators policy Defining

and Avoiding Plagiarism, which states: In an instructional setting,

plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone elseslanguage, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material

without acknowledging its source (http://wpacouncil.org/node/9). DUs

Honor Code also maintains that all members of the University must

responsibly use the work of others. Students who have plagiarized a

project will receive an F on that project, and I will inform the Office of

Community and Citizenship Standards, which may take further action.

Any documented acts of plagiarism after the first may be subject to more

severe actions.

Using digital devices

Students should bring laptops to class when were scheduled to work on

papers. They are free to bring them to class on other days, too. However,

students are not to check email, play games, check Facebook, etc., as

such behavior disrupts learning. Also, students are not take audio

recordings, videos, photos, or other digital recordings of class without

obtaining my permission in advance, as this, too, can inhibit learning.


10/13

!grades

For each of your projects, you will share a draft with your peers to solicit

their feedback, revise in response to that feedback, and then turn in adraft to me. I will make suggestions for revision and assign a provisional

grade. That provisional grade will rise, fall, or stay the same depending

upon how effectively you revise.

Final drafts of both projects are due to me via Google Drive by noon on

Friday, Nov. 21.

Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

Project 1: 40%

Project 2: 40%

Engagement: 20%


11/13

!course calendar

T Sept. 9: Read Craig Thompson, Blankets, chapters IIII, and watch the

Scott McCloud video on the blog.R Sept. 11: Read Craig Thompson, Blankets, chapters IVV, and Moore,

Writing for Comics, chapters 13 (on Blackboard).

T Sept. 16: Thompson, Blankets, chapters VIX, and Moore, Writing for

Comics, (on Blackboard), chapter 4 and W. J. T. Mitchell,

Beyond Comparison (on Blackboard)

R Sept. 18: Read Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings (TBA) and Jared Gardner,

Same Difference: Graphic Alterity in the Work of Yang,

Tomine, and Kim (on Blackboard).

T Sept. 23: Read Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings (TBA.

R Sept. 25: Read Alison Bechdel, Fun Home, chapters 13, and Chute,

Comics Form and Narrating Lives (on Blackboard).


12/13

!course calendar (contd.)

T Sept. 30: Read Bechdel, Fun Home, chapters 4 and 5, and Watson,

Autographic Disclosures and Genealogies of Desire in AlisonBechdels Fun Home.

R Oct. 2: Read Bechdel, Fun Home, chapters 6 and 7.

T Oct. 7: Workshop: Project 1.

R Oct. 9: Workshop: Project 1.

T Oct. 14: Read Art Spiegelman, Maus, Book I, and Chute, "History and

Graphic Representation in Maus" (on Blackboard).

R Oct. 16: Read Spiegelman, Maus, Book II, chapters 1 and 2.

T Oct. 21: Read Spiegelman, Maus, Book II, chapters 35.

R Oct. 23: Read Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, Incognegro, Part I,

and Nelson, Studying Black Comic Strips: Popular Art and

Discourses of Race (on Blackboard).


13/13

!course calendar (contd.)

T Oct. 28: Read Johnson and Pleece, Incognegro, Parts II and III.

R Oct. 30: Read Gilbert Hernandez, Human Diastrophism, pp. 1122.

T Nov. 4: Read Hernandez, Human Diastrophism, pp. 123194.

R Nov. 6: Read Hernandez, Human Diastrophism pp. 195250.

T Nov. 11: Workshop: Project 2.

R Nov. 13: Workshop: Project 2.

Final drafts of both projects are due to me via Google Drive by noon on

Friday, Nov. 21.

Documents

FSEM 1111-27 Graphic Writing Across Cultures Syllabus, Fall 2014