By the end of the course, students should have achieved the following objectives:
1. Have a thorough understanding of the history of the graphic novel and how it functions as literature.
2. Garner understanding in graphic novel form as it relates to panel and page layouts, drawing and style, and word and image.
3. Understand the different genres of the graphic novel, including Superheroes, Fantasy, and Science Fiction, history, and autobiography.
4. Be able to critically analyse graphic novel to film adaptations.
5. Students will give evidence of having mastered the theoretical and critical concepts that they choose to apply in their research projects, by demonstrating the appropriate application of such concepts and practices in their critical analysis and interpretation of selected graphic novels. They will demonstrate this evidence in research papers, response papers, in presentations and in daily classroom discussions and in-class work.

By the end of the course, students should have achieved the following objectives:
1. Have a thorough understanding of the history of the graphic novel and how it functions as literature.
2. Garner understanding in graphic novel form as it relates to panel and page layouts, drawing and style, and word and image.
3. Understand the different genres of the graphic novel, including Superheroes, Fantasy, and Science Fiction, history, and autobiography.
4. Be able to critically analyze graphic novel to film adaptations.
5. Students will give evidence of having mastered the theoretical and critical concepts that they choose to apply in their research projects, by demonstrating the appropriate application of such concepts and practices in their critical analysis and interpretation of selected graphic novels. They will demonstrate this evidence in research papers, response papers, in presentations and in daily classroom discussions and in-class work.

Since the graphic novel rose in prominence half a century ago, it has become one of the fastest growing literary/artistic genres generating interest from readers globally.
This seminar aims to introduce the concept of the graphic novel and explain its form and content to students. This will be done by examining the history of the graphic novel along with its cultural and critical impacts. Students will read and discuss notable examples of the graphic novel and its various subgenres such as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ deconstruction of the superhero genre in Watchmen, Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning historical graphic novel Maus, and the acclaimed autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

Since the graphic novel rose in prominence half a century ago, it has become one of the fastest growing literary/artistic genres generating interest from readers globally.
This seminar aims to introduce the concept of the graphic novel and explain its form and content to students. This will be done by examining the history of the graphic novel along with its cultural and critical impacts. Students will read and discuss notable examples of the graphic novel and its various subgenres such as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ deconstruction of the superhero genre in Watchmen, Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning historical graphic novel Maus, and the acclaimed autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

Course Texts:
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. HarperCollins, 1993.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus. Pantheon, 1986.
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. DC Comics, 1987.
Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Mariner Books, 2006.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Pantheon, 2003.

Supplementary Texts:
Baetens, Jan, and Hugo Frey. The Graphic Novel: An Introduction. Cambridge UP, 2015.
The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel, edited by Stephen E. Tabachnick. Cambridge UP, 2017.
The Rise and Reason of Comics and Graphic Literature: Critical Essays on the Form, edited by Stephen E. Tabachnick. Cambridge UP, 2017.
Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines and International Perspectives, edited by Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke, and Gideon Haberkorn, McFarland, 2010.
Geczy, Adam, and Jonathan McBurnie. Litcomix: Literary Theory and the Graphic Novel. Rutgers UP, 2023.
Van Ness, Sara J.. Watchmen as Literature. McFarland, 2010.
Approaches to Teaching Bechdel's Fun Home, edited by Judith Kegan Gardiner, Modern Language Association of America, 2018.
Maus Now: Selected Writing, edited by Hilary Chute, Pantheon, 2022.
Davis, R. G.. “A Graphic Self: Comics as autobiography in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis,” Prose Studies, vol.27, no. 3, 2005, pp. 264–279.

Course Texts:
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. HarperCollins, 1993.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus. Pantheon, 1986.
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. DC Comics, 1987.
Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Mariner Books, 2006.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Pantheon, 2003.

Supplementary Texts:
Baetens, Jan, and Hugo Frey. The Graphic Novel: An Introduction. Cambridge UP, 2015.
The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel, edited by Stephen E. Tabachnick. Cambridge UP, 2017.
The Rise and Reason of Comics and Graphic Literature: Critical Essays on the Form, edited by Stephen E. Tabachnick. Cambridge UP, 2017.
Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines and International Perspectives, edited by Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke, and Gideon Haberkorn, McFarland, 2010.
Geczy, Adam, and Jonathan McBurnie. Litcomix: Literary Theory and the Graphic Novel. Rutgers UP, 2023.
Van Ness, Sara J.. Watchmen as Literature. McFarland, 2010.
Approaches to Teaching Bechdel's Fun Home, edited by Judith Kegan Gardiner, Modern Language Association of America, 2018.
Maus Now: Selected Writing, edited by Hilary Chute, Pantheon, 2022.
Davis, R. G.. “A Graphic Self: Comics as autobiography in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis,” Prose Studies, vol.27, no. 3, 2005, pp. 264–279.