Dissertations & Theses || Journals || Conferences
Lists & Organizations || Schools for Study
Fellowship & Scholarship Opportunities for Students
Comics in Colleges and Universities
Comics in Primary, Middle, and Secondary Schools || Other

Note: Library Resources now have their own page

This page collects inks to various resources of interest to those who study or teach comics in the classroom. Two more significant collections of links may be found at the web sites of the Comics Scholars Discussion List (primarily designed for the study of comics in the classroom) and National Association of Comics Art Educators (primarily designed for the teaching of comics ["how to"] in the classroom). If you have suggestions for more resources to list here, please contact us.

Entries marked or  have been newly added or revised since July 1, 2010.

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Comics-Related Dissertations and Theses 
Listings of doctoral, masters, and undergraduate works on comics, maintained by ComicsResearch.org. Always under ision! 

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Journals
A list of journals that specialize in comic art, published by university presses, museums, libraries, etc. See Periodicals for popular/fan magazines. Jornals marked "PR" are peer- reviewed.

9e Art: edited by Thierry Groensteen, France, 1996-present [info at CNBDI].

Deutsche Comicforschung: edited by Eckart Sackmann. PR

European Comic Art: edited by Laurence Grove, Mark McKinney, and Ann Miller, and published by Liverpool University Press. "The first English-language scholarly publication devoted to the study of European-language graphic novels, comic strips, comic books and caricature." PR

Image [&] Narrative: edited by Jan Baetens, Belgium, 2000-present. PR

ImageText: published by the University of Florida, USA. PR

inks: cartoon and comic art studies: edited by Lucy Shelton Caswell, and published by Ohio State University, USA, 1994-1997. (contents via MSU) PR

International Journal of Comic Art: edited and published by John Lent, Temple University, USA, Spring 1999-present.

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics: edited by David Huxley and Joan Ormrod, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 2010- . PR

Mechademia: edited by Frenchy Lunning, and published by University of Minnesota Press. "Academic journal for writing about anime, manga and the 'fan arts.'" PR

SIGNs – Studies in Graphic Narratives: edited by Fabio Gadducci. "Focusing on Comics (or, in contemporary jargon, Graphic Novels), from modern times up to the early decades of the 20th century." PR

Studies in Comics: edited by Julia Round, Chris Murray, Dean Chan, and M. Thomas Inge; published by Intellect."[A]ims to describe the nature of comics, to identify the medium as a distinct art form, and to address the medium’s formal properties." PR

The following journals do not specialize in comic art, but often publish articles on this and related subjects:

Journal of Popular Culture: See also "Bibliography of Comics Articles in the Journal of Popular Culture" PR

Studies in American Humor: Affiliated with the American Humor Studies Association

Transformative Works and Cultures: "the academic arm of the nonprofit fan advocacy group Organization for Transformative Works"

Word & Image: Affiliated with the International Association for Word & Image Studies / Association Internationale pour l'Etude des Rapports entre Texte et Image (IAWIS/AIERTI) PR

Journals which have published special issues devoted to comic art:

20th Century Studies 13/14 (December 1975): Politics in Cartoon and Caricature.

Belphégor 4.1 (November 2004): L'étude de la bande dessinée; Belphégor 5.1 (December 2005): L'étude de la bande dessinée II.

English Languange Notes 46.2 (Fall/Winter 2008): Graphia: The Graphic Novel and Literary Criticism.

Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies 6 (Spring 2005): Comics.

Print: America's Graphic Design Magazine 42.6 (November/December 1988): Comics: A Special Issue.

Philosophy Now 73 (May / June 2009): Comics & Philosophy issue.

SCAN: Journal of Media Arts Culture 5.2 (September 2008): Reading Between the Panels (Part I).

Theory, Culture & Society 26.2-3 (2009): Special Issue on Ubiquitous Media (some manga/anime content).

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Regularly Held Conferences

February: University of Florida's Conference on Graphic Novels (USA)

March/April (Easter/Passover weekend): Comic Art & Comics Area, Popular Culture Association (USA) (movable conference; comics papers also presented in the Asian Popular Culture Area and other Areas)

May: Sequential Art Studies Conference, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia - status uncertain

July: Comic Arts Conference, San Diego Comic-Con International, USA

Summer: International Society for Humor Studies (varies)

September/October: International Comic Arts Forum, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA - formerly the International Comic Arts Festival

October (every three years): Festival of Cartoon Art, Ohio State University, USA

Various: The International Bande Dessinee Society Conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Special Conferences (most recent listed first)

January 31, 2009: Graphica in Education: Graphic Novels come out from Under the Desk, Fordham University Graduate School of Education, New York City

May 18-19, 2006: International Conference on Asian Comics, Animation & Gaming, York University, Toronto

November 19-21, 2004: CRLMC Conference: Mythology and Comic Book Art / Mythe et bande dessinée, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France

May 8-9, 2004: La linea inquieta. Emozione e ironia nel fumetto / The Troubled Line: Emotion and Irony in Comics, Bologna, Italy.

May 12-13, 2000: Second International Conference on the Graphic Novel, KU Leuven, Belgium.

May 9-10, 1998: Fumettopolis, Turin, Italy.

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Discussion Lists/Organizations

American Humor Studies Association

Anime and Manga Research Circle discussion list

Comics Scholars Discussion List

GNIE-L: "Discussion of graphic novels and comics in educational environments: daycares, pre-schools, elementary, middle and senior high schools up to college and other post-secondary institutions."

GNLIB-L: "Just for Young Adult / Adult Librarians! Share reviews and resources for collection development of your graphic or comic novel section."

International Association of Word and Image Studies

International Bande Dessinée Society (IBDS) - housed at the University of Glasgow

Japan Society for Studies in Cartoons and Comics - with foreign-language information

National Association of Comics Art Educators

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Post-Secondary Schools for Studying Comic Art - About Comics 

CANADA: Book & Media Studies: University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto: A wide-ranging program of potential interest to students of the comics form; courses include "FCS 297H1 Comic Books and French Culture"

USA: Minneapolis College of Art and Design: Schoolgirls and Mobile Suits: Culture and Creation in Manga and Anime, annual workshop in Continuing Studies.

USA: University of Florida: See especially the graduate track for Comics and Visual Rhetoric.

USA: University of Massachusetts Amherst: Word and Image: A Collaborative Research Exchange Project. In conjunction with Romance Languages at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

Post-Secondary Schools for Studying Comic Art - Making Comics 

CANADA: Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology: Comic Design and Scripting - Ontario. (More info via instructor Richard Comely)

CANADA: Université du Québec en Outaouais - Arts, design et bande dessinée

UK: North Wales School of Art & Design -  BA (Hons) Illustration for Graphic Novels

USA: Center for Cartoon Studies - Vermont. Read profile from Southwest Airlines' September, 2008 Spirit magazine.

USA: Emerson College (Boston, MA) - Graphic Novel Writing & Illustration Certificate

USA: Joe Kubert School of Cartoon & Graphic Art, Inc. - New Jersey; offers the Dave & Paty Cockrum Scholarship for continuing students [more info].

USA: Minneapolis College of Art and Design - including a major in Comic Art

USA: Rhode Island School of Design - including an undergraduate degree program in illustration

USA: Savannah College of Art & Design - Sequential Art - Georgia

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Fellowship & Scholarship Opportunities for Students

For Current and Recent Graduate-Level Students

Swann Foundation Fellowships from The Library of Congress' Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon. "To be eligible, one must be a candidate for an M.A. or Ph.D. degree in a university in the United States, Canada or Mexico and working toward the completion of a dissertation or thesis for that degree, or be engaged in postgraduate research within three years of receiving an M.A. or Ph.D." Annual award.

For University- and College-Level Students

The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship from the National Cartoonists Society Foundation. "Applicants must be college students in the United States, Canada or Mexico that will be in their Junior or Senior year of college" during the next academic year.

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Comics in Colleges & Universities

Duncan, Randy and Matthew J. Smith. 2009. The Power of Comics: History, Form & Culture. London & New York: Continuum.

Kahan, Jeffrey and Stanley Stewart. Caped Crusaders 101: Composition through Comic Books. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, 2006. 200pp. ISBN 0786425326 (paper).

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Comics in Primary, Middle & Secondary Schools

Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel. 2007. Edited by James Bucky Carter. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Cary, Stephen. Going Graphic: Comics at Work in the Multilingual Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2004. 218pp. ISBN 0325004757 (paper). Buy It!

Rourke, James. 2010. The Comic Book Curriculum: Using Comics to Enhance Learning and Life. Libraries Unlimited.

Thomas, James L. 1983. Cartoons in the Classroom: A Reference for Teachers and Librarians. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited. 181pp. ISBN 0872873579 (cloth). Buy It!

Thomas, Rebecca L. and Catherine Barr. 2005. Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers. Westport, CT & London: Libraries Unlimited. 515pp. ISBN 1591582024 (hc). Buy It!

Thompson, Terry. 2008. Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension, 2-6. Stenhouse Publishers. 200pp.

Thurman, Mark and Emily Hearn. 2010. Get Graphic! Using Storyboards to Write and Draw Picture Books, Graphic Novels, and Comic Strips. Pembroke Publishers. 96pp.

Weblink: Cognitive Comics: A Constructivist Approach to Sequential Art - "for the purposes of submission to the the State University of New York College at Buffalo Office of Undergraduate Research."

Weblink: The Comic Book Project - "an arts-based literacy and learning initiative hosted by Teachers College, Columbia University with materials published by Dark Horse Comics."

Weblink: Comics in the Classroom .net - and a Pop Thought interview with CitC.net's Scott Tingley

Weblink:  Educating with Comics, by Leonard Rifas. AIGA Design Forum, posted June 28, 2005.

Weblink:  The Graphic Classroom, by Chris Wilson. "Promoting the use of high quality comic literature in the elementary, middle school, and high school classroom."

Weblink: The Maryland Comic Book Initiative - see also Industry News via partner Diamond Comics Distributors

Weblink: Teaching with Comics via Flummery.com  

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Other On-Line Resources

Comic Art in Scholarly Writing: A Citation Guide

Comics studies: Resources for scholarly research: a list by Derik A. Badman, for the Association of College & Research Libraries News

The Media History Project's "Comics & Graphic Arts" connections page

Online Bibliography of Anime and Manga Research, incorporating the Anime/Manga Web Essay Archive.

Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928-1999 - Essential database by the late Jerry Bails

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