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Category Archives: Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics

Deadline Extended: Comics Forum 2018 Call for Papers

04 Jul

Progress: A Decade of Comics Scholarship
Leeds Central Library 20-21 September

Call for Papers

Deadline extended to the 23rd of July 2018.

Comics Forum 2018 is the tenth anniversary of the annual conference series. To celebrate this milestone, we invite scholars from around the world to join us for a two-day series of talks looking back at the subjects Comics Forum has focused on over the past decade and considering how they have changed and developed. We are now open to submissions on any of the following themes, reflecting the topics from previous years’ events (please indicate which theme you are addressing when you submit your abstract):

  • Genre (2016)
  • Graphic Medicine: Visualizing the Stigma of Illness (2011)[1]
  • Materiality and Virtuality (2011)
  • Multiculturalism and Representation (2012)
  • Politics (2015)
  • Possibilities and Perspectives (2009)
  • Sculpture and Comic Art (2011)[2]
  • Small Press and Undergrounds (2013)
  • Space (2017)
  • Theory and Practice (2010)
  • Violence (2014)
  • Women in Comics (2010)[3]

Submissions will be considered in any of the following three formats (please indicate which you are proposing when you submit your abstract):

  • Paper: 15-minute paper on a focused topic.
  • Panel: 1 hour structured discussion between three or more participants (N.B.: this should be a coherent unit, not simply a collection of three or four papers).
  • Workshop: 1 hour interactive, collaborative session aimed at producing outputs to be published on comicsforum.org.

Proposals of up to 250 words in length are now being accepted at the following link: http://bit.ly/comicsforum2018 The deadline for submissions is the 23rd of July and you will be notified of acceptance by or before the 30th of July. Please include a short (100 word) biography of your speaker(s) with your proposal. We look forward to welcoming you to Leeds!

***

[1] Graphic Medicine: Guest conference organised by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec.
[2] Sculpture and Comic Art: Guest conference organised by Jon Wood and Kirstie Gregory.
[3] Women in Comics: Guest conference organised by Sarah Lightman, Catriona MacLeod, Hattie Kennedy and Emily Rabone.
 
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Posted by on 2018/07/04 in Comics Forum 2010, Comics Forum 2011, Comics Forum 2012, Comics Forum 2013, Comics Forum 2014, Comics Forum 2015, Comics Forum 2016, Comics Forum 2017, Comics Forum 2018, General, Graphic Medicine, Materiality and Virtuality: A Conference on Comics, News, Possibilities and Perspectives: A Conference on Comics (2009), Sculpture and Comic Art, Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics, Women in Comics

 

Call for Papers: Comics Forum 2018

28 Jun

Progress: A Decade of Comics Scholarship
Leeds Central Library 20-21 September

Call for Papers

Deadline extended to the 23rd of July 2018.

Comics Forum 2018 is the tenth anniversary of the annual conference series. To celebrate this milestone, we invite scholars from around the world to join us for a two-day series of talks looking back at the subjects Comics Forum has focused on over the past decade and considering how they have changed and developed. We are now open to submissions on any of the following themes, reflecting the topics from previous years’ events (please indicate which theme you are addressing when you submit your abstract):

  • Genre (2016)
  • Graphic Medicine: Visualizing the Stigma of Illness (2011)[1]
  • Materiality and Virtuality (2011)
  • Multiculturalism and Representation (2012)
  • Politics (2015)
  • Possibilities and Perspectives (2009)
  • Sculpture and Comic Art (2011)[2]
  • Small Press and Undergrounds (2013)
  • Space (2017)
  • Theory and Practice (2010)
  • Violence (2014)
  • Women in Comics (2010)[3]

Submissions will be considered in any of the following three formats (please indicate which you are proposing when you submit your abstract):

  • Paper: 15-minute paper on a focused topic.
  • Panel: 1 hour structured discussion between three or more participants (N.B.: this should be a coherent unit, not simply a collection of three or four papers).
  • Workshop: 1 hour interactive, collaborative session aimed at producing outputs to be published on comicsforum.org.

Proposals of up to 250 words in length are now being accepted at the following link: http://bit.ly/comicsforum2018 The deadline for submissions is the 23rd of July and you will be notified of acceptance by or before the 30th of July. Please include a short (100 word) biography of your speaker(s) with your proposal. We look forward to welcoming you to Leeds!

***

[1] Graphic Medicine: Guest conference organised by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec.
[2] Sculpture and Comic Art: Guest conference organised by Jon Wood and Kirstie Gregory.
[3] Women in Comics: Guest conference organised by Sarah Lightman, Catriona MacLeod, Hattie Kennedy and Emily Rabone.
 
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Posted by on 2018/06/28 in Affiliated Conferences, Comics Forum 2010, Comics Forum 2011, Comics Forum 2012, Comics Forum 2013, Comics Forum 2014, Comics Forum 2015, Comics Forum 2016, Comics Forum 2017, General, Graphic Medicine, Materiality and Virtuality: A Conference on Comics, News, Possibilities and Perspectives: A Conference on Comics (2009), Scholarly Resources, Sculpture and Comic Art, Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics, Thought Bubble, Women in Comics

 

Sketching in Lectures: An Interview with Mel Gibson by Ian Hague

01 Jun

Dr Mel Gibson is a Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University. She is also the creator of Dr Mel Comics, a website which supports librarians and teachers in developing graphic novel and manga collections and offers resources and links for those researching comics. She has been an invaluable asset to the development of Comics Forum since its inception in 2009, generously offering both sponsorship and expertise that have enabled the annual conference series to go ahead.

On the 20th of November 2011 she took some time out of the Thought Bubble Convention in Leeds to talk to me about her experiences using comics in the UK education sector, particularly as tools for assessment.

* * *

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Posted by on 2012/06/01 in educators, Guest Writers, Interviews, Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics

 

The Joy and the Burden of the Comics Artist: The role of boredom in the production of comics by Greice Schneider

08 Aug

There is something very intriguing in the high incidence of comics about cartoonists whining about the struggle of their métier, especially in the realm of alternative comics, in which the combination of autobiography and a tendency towards a depressive mood has been setting the tone in the last decades. In fact, the idea that many ‘alternative comics’ feature stories in which ‘autobiography would be the mode’ while ‘neurosis and alienation the dominant tone’ (Leith) is so well spread that it has become almost a genre in itself. It is not a coincidence that these two elements appear together, though. There is a connection between the subject (the routine of making comics) and the mood it awakens (most of the time, self-deprecating, depressing) that is directly related to the tricky dynamics of boredom and interest in the creative process: making comics appears both as the escape from boredom and the source of it. Although the role played by boredom and melancholy has been addressed in many arts, there seems to be something special with comics, given the high number of artists that bring up this topic in their work, such as Lewis Trondheim, Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes or Ivan Brunetti.

‘Cartooning Will Destroy You‘

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Posted by on 2011/08/08 in Guest Writers, Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics

 

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Introduction

17 May

Hello and welcome to the Comics Forum blog. This is the best place to keep up to date with all the latest news and information about Comics Forum, the academic side of Leeds’ sequential art festival, Thought Bubble.

Comics Forum was established in 2009 as ‘Possibilities and Perspectives: A Conference on Comics’, which ran at the Alea Casino in parallel with the Thought Bubble convention on the 21st of November. Last year’s event took place at Leeds Art Gallery and ran from the 18th to the 19th of November. It comprised two conferences: ‘Women in Comics II’ and ‘Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics’. 2011’s Comics Forum is scheduled for the 16th to the 18th of November and will pull together ‘Sculpture and Comic Art’, ‘Graphic Medicine’ and ‘Materiality and Virtuality: A Conference on Comics’. The call for papers is out today and is available here.

The aim of Comics Forum is to encourage productive dialogues between scholars, creators and professionals working on comics. We have a broad and inclusive approach, and try to showcase as many different speakers and ideas as possible in the time available. The intellectual level is high and the event can be challenging at times, but we think it’s important to push for the type of rigorous, well-researched material that comics deserve.

This site has been established in that spirit. In addition to releasing information about Comics Forum, we’ll be using it to provide an archive of material relating to previous years’ events, and to present articles from a wide range of guest writers. We’ll also be hosting ongoing columns. Kirstie Gregory from the Henry Moore Institute will write on Sculpture and Comic Art, while Ian Williams, Columba Quigley and M K Czerviec (Comic Nurse) will discuss Graphic Medicine. The intentions here are: a) to give an idea of the numerous voices speaking on comics in different styles, from different angles and with different interests, b) to get people rethinking their readings of the medium and challenging themselves to consider alternative viewpoints, and c) to stimulate debate and discussion on a wide range of topics relating to comics, both on the blog itself and at the events.

I very much hope you’ll enjoy the site and take the time to read the articles and commentaries provided by our writers, who are among the top thinkers on the medium of comics. If you have any questions, suggestions, comments, complaints or compliments don’t hesitate to get in touch by email at comicsforum@hotmail.co.uk or in the comments sections on each of the blog posts. You can keep updated with the site by email by clicking the subscription link on the right hand side of the page, or by RSS by clicking the orange icon at the top right.

Best wishes to all our readers.

Ian Hague, Director of Comics Forum

 
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Posted by on 2011/05/17 in Comics Forum 2010, Comics Forum 2011, Comics Forum Archives, General, Graphic Medicine, Materiality and Virtuality: A Conference on Comics, News, Possibilities and Perspectives: A Conference on Comics (2009), Sculpture and Comic Art, Theory and Practice: A Conference on Comics, Thought Bubble, Women in Comics

 
 
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