Instructor: Marek Oziewicz
Credits: 3
Meeting Times:  Tue/Thu 9:45–11am
Freshman Seminar

Course Description: This course will explore picture books and graphic novels as formats of contemporary children’s literature especially conducive to the development of young people’s visual literacy. Picture books and graphic novels will be examined for their similarities and differences, their multiple uses, and cultural significance. Our focus will be on the image/word interaction, the complexity of pictorial reading/ storytelling, the thematic scope, artistic techniques, and the historical overview of different approaches to visual narratives around the world. You will read a variety of global and multicultural picture books and graphic novels accompanied by critical and theoretical readings. You will complete several written assignments, including a picture project and a sequential art project. The structure of class discussions, presentations, and projects will help you become an active thinker about complexity, diversity, and change in the global world as well as within the field of children’s and young adult literature.

Sample Syllabus (coming soon!)

Student Showcase (coming soon!)