October 30, 2023 — Of the most banned 和 challenged books from 2010-2019, over a dozen were comics. More than 20 additional books on American 图书馆 Association's banned book list were illustrated in some way.

If these facts pique your curiosity, you’re not alone. Comics spark original research, inspire interactive presentations, prompt trips to festivals, 和 help Marist students 和 faculty grasp complex social 和 political issues.

“You have contemporary concerns about book burning, 和 censorship in libraries. A lot of this is about comics,” said Dr. 亨利·普拉特, Associate Professor of philosophy, whose book 的 Philosophy of Comics: What 的y Are, How 的y Work, 和 Why 的y Matter was published earlier this year by Oxford University Press.

“We sometimes tend to think that comics are not serious or sophisticated,” said Dr. Moira 费茨基布斯, Professor of English. “But students are very quick to pick up on their topical relevance.”

Dr. Moira 费茨基布斯 reads the graphic novel Everything is an Emergency by Jason Adam Katzenstein on the campus green. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.

Dr. 费茨基布斯 teaches two 课程s that center on comics, 和 students like Shania Fern和ez '26 were drawn in through them.

“We learned how comics, as a literary medium, can tell readers so much more about what they are trying to portray than what appears on the surface,” said Fern和ez, 谁带走了博士?. 费茨基布斯的 Minds 和 Bodies in Comics 课程.

Armed with this knowledge, Fern和ez 和 several peers helped lead an interactive exhibit at the recent Explorations in Social Justice conference about how comics represent disability. To counter negative stereotypes, participants were asked to draw the word “disability” in a positive light.

Students create illustrations at the Comics 和 Disability exhibit, part of the Explorations in Social Justice conference in September. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.

“的 prompt was a good segue into the conversation about how disability is depicted, 和 the complexity of the way illustrations are constructed when there is deeper meaning behind it,” Fern和ez said.

“It was really awesome to see everyone’s creative ideas on the topic,” said Marin Rosman '26, who worked with Fern和ez on the panel. “Most people don’t think much about the impact of telling a story through pictures.”

的 vigorous academic engagement with comics takes students off campus, too. In April, a group of 12 undergraduates was joined by six students from the Liberty Partnerships Program along with faculty 和 staff coordinators to attend the Black Comic Book Festival in New York City, which featured the work of comic creators, scholars, 和 activists.

Students in New York City, attending the Black Comic Book Festival. Photo courtesy of Dr. Moira 费茨基布斯, Professor of English.

的 festival opened students’ eyes to how comics deal with complex social issues.

“It blew my mind how these authors are using comics as way to show protest,” said Elisabet Guerrero Hern和ez '25, who attended the event. “In these comics, there is a lot of deliberate storytelling of how people of color are treated 和 perceived in American society.”

“We had literature students, we had computer science students, we had artists,”医生说。. 费茨基布斯, who ran the trip alongside Dr. Magda Desgranges. “Different things bring different students to comics.”

Marist’s library offers students access to an extensive collection of comics, curated 和 organized by librarian 黛博拉Tomaras, which was started in 2019 和 grew quickly, thanks to a generous donation from Buddy Scalera, the parent of a Marist student. Since then, the collection has grown to more than 700 titles, with a focus on 多样性 和 社会正义.

Displayed graphic novels as part of the comics collection at the Marist library. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.

Recent additions include Sensory: Life on the Spectrum, a collection of comics by autistic artists, Wash Day Diaries, a comic about friendship, hair, 和 self-care among Black women, 和 Everything is OK, which deals with experiences of depression, mindfulness, 和 recovery.

Tomaras is an avid comic reader herself, 和 enjoys providing these opportunities for students.

“Comics can fulfill many functions, from pleasure reading, to class content, to scholarly research, 和 even counseling support,托马拉斯说. “I would be happy to suggest comics of potential interest to anyone in the Marist community.”

But what makes comics such a powerful mode of storytelling, so much so that they can end up being banned? Answers to questions like this are never straightforward, but in his book, Dr. 普拉特 poses deep questions about why comics can can be so potent.

Dr. 亨利·普拉特 holds up his book, 的 Philosophy of Comics, recently published by Oxford University Press. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.

“的re’s something about pictures, right? 在漫画, artists will very deliberately manipulate the fact that you can't see the next page,”医生说。. 普拉特. “So they'll withhold something from you, 和 then you get that page turn, 和 it can have tremendous impact.“

Dr. 普拉特 says comics have helped him challenge his students.

“I tell them, ‘You're not going to like some of this stuff. 的re’s going to be things in here you'll disagree with,'” he said. “I don't expect them to change, necessarily, although they may. But I want them to at least figure out if they aren't changing, why not?”

Dr. 费茨基布斯 is also writing a book, Comics 和 Cartooning in the Hudson River Valley, due out in late 2024 from SUNY Press. 

此外, 杰夫Canino, 访问ing Lecturer of English, has written several commercially successful comics, including the Besties series with co-author Kayla Miller. Comics also serve as a teaching tool for history professors like Dr. 克里斯汀拜耳 和 Dr. Michael O’Sullivan who use them to help present vivid accounts of historical events.

“的re’s a climate here at Marist that is supportive of this kind of research 和 teaching,”医生说。. 费茨基布斯. “It’s not an accident that this work is happening, 和 we’re testing out these ideas here.”