Blog Archives
College Seeking Participants for Mix 2012 Comics Symposium
Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware, keynote speaker for CCAD’s Mix 2012
Over the last decade, colleges and universities have been exploring a deeper appreciation and understanding of comic books than ever before. This kind of attention in educational circles is a crucial and valuable element in a higher level of acceptance of sequential art (comics, graphic novels, manga, etc.) as a rich form of communication and entertainment beyond just “Yeah I guess comics are cool ’cause I liked that Avengers movie”. Just as college students take film appreciation, art history, and literature classes, so to should they be able to take equally in depth classes on the value of the comics form. That is happening more and more, and one art and design school is taking it to the next level with a three-day comics symposium.
The Columbus College of Art and Design will hold their inaugural Mix 2012 comics symposium October 4-6, 2012. Robert Loss, programming chair for Mix and adjunct instructor for CCAD’s English Department, has sent out a call for proposals, papers, roundtables, and workshops with a June 4 deadline an extended July 6th deadline. According to Loss:
“By bringing together artists, academics and other professionals and students interested in the comics art form, we hope to encourage substantial and lively discussion in a way uncommon to most academic and comics conferences. Panels and roundtables will feature a diversity of participants, and will be presented for an audience that is equally diverse and will include a sizable student population. We’re looking for people interested in reaching across boundaries and engaging in interdisciplinary conversations.”
Renowned cartoonist Chris Ware, who is best known for the award-winning graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth and his comic book series Acme Novelty Library, will be the event’s keynote speaker. And what’s particularly refreshing is that the symposium’s theme of epic narrative sounds like it’s going to be all about superheroes. But from the programming information released so far, while that genre won’t be ignored, they seem to realize there’s much more to comics than that.
An official website for the Mix 2012 symposium will soon follow. In the meantime, click through for more details:
