2020-21 Academic Catalog

This seminar considers what makes good graphic novels by non-historians and good history written by historians trained in American traditions of scholarship. Expressionist representational narratives concerning Nat Turner, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Zora Neale Hurston challenge us to rethink definitions about what is history. Discussions and paper topics for graphic novels as popular history and academic history concentrate on these topics: the subject matter or plot; the techniques for narration and representation; the truth status of products; and audience. Prerequisite: One course in History, American Studies or Africana Studies