This course is an introduction to reading and writing the graphic novel, including consideration of the history, narrative structure, aesthetics, and genres of the medium. Our residential and online pre-college programs are designed to give you a preview of the UMass student experience, including college-level academics and being part of a learning community of high school students from all across the U.S. and the world.
From the awarding of a Pulitzer Prize to Art Spiegelman’s Maus to today, graphic novels have grown in literary and academic recognition and become one of the fastest-growing areas of publishing in the United States. Many films and television shows have been based on comics and graphic novels, and the diversity of creators and the stories they tell has expanded to include multiple genres, including autobiography, science fiction and fantasy, and nonfiction works. Graphic novels increasingly explore issues of gender, race, class, and economic and political justice.
This course will explore how graphic novels are created, the creation of scripts or prompts (the “Marvel method”), the collaborations of writers, artists, and editors, and the many types of graphic novels being published today. The course will include visits by guest artists, writers, and scholars of comics and graphic novels, as well as field trips to local museums and galleries related to comics, such as the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and to a comic book store. Students will gain a greater understanding of this exciting, ever-growing, and developing medium.
Students interested in reading, creative writing, and storytelling through visual arts are invited to apply.
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