Sharpless 416
Ken Koltun-Fromm
Haverford College
Gest 201
Office Hours: Tuesdays 11-12 in VCAM Lounge
610-896-1026 (office) 610-645-8324 (home)
kkoltunf@haverford.edu
Tuesday 12:30-3:30, Wednesday 9:30-11:30; Thursday 12:30-3:30
Summary
This course engages visual culture and religion through a reading of comics, examining how graphic mediums represent religious traditions, ethics, culture, and violence. Reading comics is a visual practice, but it is also a study in religious expression, creative imagination, and critical interpretation. The course will focus on (1) comics and the representation of religion, (2) comics and sacred texts, (3) the ethics of representation, (4) comics, culture, and religion, and (5) comics and religious violence. We want to engage the multi-textured layers of religious traditions through a reading of comics, and challenge our notions of what counts as religion.
We will also collaborate with Laura McGrane’s class on South African literature by reading Spiegelman’s Maus along with Krog’s Country of My Skull, two pivotal texts that explore the ethics of representational memory—who remembers the Holocaust, how does one depict trauma, what is the relationship between truth, reconciliation, and representation. The concluding symposium will bring both classes together to explore issues in the ethics of representation.
Books to Own
R. Crumb, The Book of Genesis Illustrated
Will Eisner, A Contract with God
Krog, Country of My Skull
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
Douglas Rushkoff, Akedah
Joann Sfar, The Rabbi’s Cat
Art Spiegelman, The Complete Maus
Requirements
Preparation for class discussions is required and necessary. You should be fully prepared to engage the course material, and offer reflective analysis upon the reading assignments as well as the comments by others in class. Once during the summer you will present the readings for class discussion. This 10 minute opening discussion should take the form of 1) a concise summary of the class readings, and 2) a focused attention on a difficult passage or image, or a guiding question that troubles or concerns you about the reading, or some other way of engaging your peers in what you think matters most about the texts.
You will write four, doubled-spaced essays during this five-week summer session. Your third paper on the ethics of representation will form the basis for your public symposium presentation, and your final (fourth) paper will be a reflective analysis on that presentation.
Essays:
You will write four (all double-spaced) essays over the course of these five weeks that follow the same preparatory structure (except for your final, reflective essay): you will turn in a draft on Monday at Noon and a final draft on Friday at 4 pm. All drafts (initial and final) will be turned in electronically on the Moodle site for this course in the appropriate folder. The process works like this: I will discuss in our Wednesday class the paper assignment due the following Monday; I will then read and comment on those Monday drafts by Tuesday so we can discuss them as a group and individually at our Tuesday meeting; we will take additional time on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss writing and revision; and finally, your revised essay will be turned in on Friday at 4 pm. All three essays follow this structure, but note that as you revise one paper you will also be thinking about the next. Your final 3-4 page reflective essay will comprise a critical analysis of your Symposium presentation on Thursday, August 2.
Your first essay will be a 2-3 page textual analysis paper. In this paper you want to focus on a specific passage of the comic image/text and analyze it in a way that helps me become a better reader of the comic. In short, you want to make me (your reader) a better reader of this text/image. To do this you want to focus on what the image/text means and not on what it says. Think about peeling away layers as you go deeper into your analysis. Your introduction should be a concise summary of your argument (consider writing this last), and your conclusion should open up your paper to related issues not fully covered in your argument. You want to err on the side of ever increasing details that draw out textual nuances, and try to refrain from general observations.
Your second essay will be a 3-4 page textual analysis paper like the first one, but it will include critical engagement with secondary sources. These sources may come from class readings or from material researched at Magill library. There are two ways to use secondary materials in your paper: 1) the first is historical, in which you bring in historical context to highlight something distinctive about your text. This is but one way to use historical analysis. It could be that historical context allows you to make other claims about the text. But in all cases, this secondary work strengthens, deepens, and nuances your critical, textual analysis; 2) the second explores how one could draw from a theoretical discussion to help analyze some particular issue in your text. Here too you want to bring in this secondary source to further your own commentary. In both examples, it’s important to “set up” your secondary work by explaining why this work is important for your analysis. You use secondary sources to help become a better reader of your text/image, and you want to explain how that source enables you to do that. You also want to elucidate the meaning of that secondary text, and not merely quote it and tell me what it says. I am asking you to strengthen and deepen your textual analysis by drawing on another voice that helps you articulate your own. So continue to work at going deeper into a text, peeling away the layers of meaning through textual analysis, and now add another textual source to help you do that well. As part of this assignment, when you turn in your draft on Monday, July 16th you must include a number count for “to be” and passive verbs in your draft.
Your third and final essay will be a 4-5 page synthetic, broader thesis paper on the ethics of representation that includes textual analysis and secondary sources. This is more of a thematic paper in which I want you to pursue a thesis on the ethics of representation. Any text or texts read in class could be the focus for this paper on the ethics of representation. Topics may include the ethics of representing race, gender, sacred texts, religious cultures, religious violence, or divine beings.
I will discuss in detail these assignments during our Wednesday classes.
Symposium
At the symposium on Thursday, August 2nd you will present a six-eight minute talk derived from your third paper, and include substantive examples that illustrate your point about the ethics of representation. This talk may include visual presentations of images (with PowerPoint or other presentation software), and should concisely depict a critical area of concern in your third paper. Due the following day (Friday, August 3rd), you will turn in a final, three-four page reflection paper on your symposium presentation. This critical, reflective paper will consider, among other things, the process by which one translates written arguments into oral presentations. You also want to consider some key themes in your presentation and how they engage the representation of religion and ethics in comics.
Grading
Your final grade will be based on the above assignments, with significant weight placed on your engagement in class discussions. I do not evaluate each task with percentage accuracy (your final paper is not worth, for example, 30% of your grade), but I instead examine all your work as a piece, and provide a grade that I hope fairly expresses the work and attention rendered to the class assignments, your peers in class, and your class participation. This process also allows me to take into account improvement over the course of the summer. This grade is not recorded with your course credit, but it is an important marker of your performance during the Chesick program. I will also write a paragraph evaluation that I will discuss with you.
If you require any kind of accommodations due to learning differences please contact me privately early in the summer so we can plan a course of action.
My Policy on Technology in the Classroom:
You must bring all readings to class and be prepared to read, cite, and engage those texts in the seminar. Some of you may prefer to bring in computers or other technology to access these readings (instead of printing them out as a hard copy). For those who wish to use computers or other devices in the classroom, you may not use those devices for anything other than engaging in and committing to the seminar. When we step into the seminar room, we become a community of intellectual learners, and this community requires commitment and attention. If computers or other technical devices interfere with that learning process then I will no longer allow those devices in the classroom. This means that if your use of a computer or similar device prevents you or any of your peers from fully engaging the class, then you will be required to remove your device from class. Only under special conditions may you use a cell phone for communication in the classroom; normally these devices must be turned off or left outside the room. The basic premise is this: we should use technology when it enables intellectual commitment to the seminar; we should leave it alone when it undermines that commitment. Please come and see me if you have concerns about using technology in the classroom.
Week One: Comics and the Representation of Religion
Monday, July 2 (9:30-11:30)
Overview of Course
Spiegelman, Maus, p. 201
McCloud, Understanding Comics, pp. 2-3
Tuesday, July 3 (12:30-3:30) (Ken)
McCloud, Understanding Comics, pp. 2-49, 60-73
Eisner, A Contract with God (not entire book but only the first graphic narrative)
Discuss first paper (Example of close reading of Spiegelman’s Maus, p. 207)
Thursday, July 5 (12:30-3:30) (Adrian)
Thompson, Habibi, pp. 1-49, 132-145, 471-475, 597-605
Discussion of Essays and Writing (How I footnote; Setting up a quote; Writing samples 2 and 5)
Week Two: Comics and Sacred Texts
Monday, July 9: First paper draft due at Noon (2-3 pages)
Tuesday, July 10 (12:30-3:30) (Ash)
Crumb, The Book of Genesis Illustrated, ch. 1-3, 15-22
Discussion of Essays (Tutorials)
Tutorial Group #1: Daniel, Alex, Ash, Hannah
Tutorial Group #2: Fariea, Adrian, Saul
Wednesday, July 11 (9:30-11:30) (Hannah)
Allred, The Golden Plates
The Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi, chs. 1-14
Book of Mormon Stories, especially pages 23-26, 85-88, 99-102, 114-123, 138-142, and 154-156
Discuss Writing Samples
Thursday, July 12 (12:30-3:30) (Daniel)
Anna-Alexandra Fodde-Reguer library visit (Graphic Guide)
Amar Chitra Katha, Tales of Durga
Mclain, India’s Immortal Comic Books, pp. 87-113
Workshop first papers
Friday, July 13: First paper due at 4 pm (2-3 pages)
Week Three: The Ethics of Representation (with Laura McGrane’s class)
Monday, July 16: Second paper draft due at Noon (3-4 pages)
Tuesday, July 17 (12:30-3:30) (Fareia)
Spiegelman, Maus, pp. 13-25, 75-149, 201
Discussion of Essays (Tutorials)
Tutorial Group #1: Fariea, Ash, Adrian, Alex
Tutorial Group #2: Saul, Daniel, Hannah
Wednesday, July 18 (9:30-11:30)
Krog, Country of My Skull, pp. 19-66, 212-225, 311-317
Discuss Writing Samples
Thursday, July 19 (12:30-3:30)
Continued discussion on Spiegelman and Krog
Workshop second papers
Friday, July 20: Second paper due at 4 pm (3-4 pages)
Week Four: Comics, Culture, and Religion
Monday, July 23: Third paper draft due at Noon (4-5 pages)
Tuesday, July 24 (12:30-3:30) (Alex)
Sfar, The Rabbi’s Cat
Eisenstein, “Imperfect Masters: Rabbinic Authority in Joann Sfar’s The Rabbi’s Cat,” pp. 163-180
Discussion of Essays (Tutorials)
Tutorial Group #1: Daniel, Saul, Ash, Hannah
Tutorial Group #2: Fariea, Adrian, Alex
Wednesday, July 25 (9:30-11:30) (Saul)
Ms. Marvel
Idea Channel: How is Ms. Marvel Changing Media for the Better
Satrapi, Persepolis, pp. 3-46, 94-102, 118-134
Discuss Writing Samples
Thursday, July 26 (12:30-3:30) (Ken)
A Tale of Selfless Generosity
Tezuka, Buddha, pp. 1-25, 148-160
Vakil, 40 Sufi Comics
Discuss Symposium and next week
Friday, July 27: Third paper due at 4 pm (4-5 pages)
Week Five: Comics and Religious Violence
Monday, July 30: Outlines for Symposium due at Noon
Tuesday, July 31 (12:30-3:30)
Rushkoff, Akedah
Jack Chick Comics (website)
Discussion of Symposium presentations
Wednesday, August 1 (9:30-11:30)
Morrison, The Coyote Gospel
Student presentations (practice and trial-runs)
Thursday, August 2 (9:30-12)
Symposium
Friday, August 3
Final reflective paper due at 4 pm (3-4 pages)
