I’m currently enjoying getting work done on my spring break, and have lots of fun news to report!
1. Classes!
First, I just completed grading the final exams for my very fun course on the “Language of Comics” for UCSD’s Linguistics Department. Finals are always a chore to grade (even with my trusty TA), but they were made a lot more fun because they were filled with my theories and had awesome student drawn comics created to illustrate VL theory!
A class like this is pretty much one of a kind at this point, since I’m probably the only one teaching these sorts of classes. So, in order to help encourage and facilitate more classes like this, I’ve posted the syllabus on my “Resources” page. A direct pdf is available here. If you are looking to start teaching a class of this type, please feel free to contact me about listed readings that aren’t published and/or for suggestions about homework assignments and exams.
Next week I start a new class on the “Cognition of Comics” for the UCSD Cognitive Science Department. This class is going to be a lot more research based, and will be based around students doing their own research project related to visual language theory. I’m very excited about it, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the great work they’ll no doubt come up with.
2. Appearances!
While I’ll be out in Germany to give several workshops in June, much sooner I’ll be here in the States giving a talk at WonderCon in Anaheim in a few weeks. I likely won’t be at Comic-Con this year due to a conflicting date, so this looks to be my big comic convention appearance of the year. My talk will be on Sunday morning of April 20th, at 11:30. I’ve got a whole hour where I’ll be giving the basic overview of visual language theory and then answering lots of questions. I’ll keep posting more info as the date gets closer, but come on out and see my presentation!
3. More books!
Finally, I’m excited to say I just received a contract for my next book! This one will be an edited volume that will act as a companion to The Visual Language of Comics, and can serve as a reader for future classes on visual language (I’ll need to post an update to the syllabus when it’s out!).
The book will bring together chapters from several world class researchers from various diverse fields who have all investigated some facet of visual narratives with regard to how they are structured, comprehended in cognition, or developed by children. Being able to integrate them into a cohesive volume will provide a great way to make these authors’ work known to a broader community, and hopefully help sponsor the growth of this field.
Stay tuned for updates on its development, but I’m hoping for a release in late 2015.
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