We are pleased to advertise this day-and-a-half CHASE-funded event to offer specific training for a select group of emerging scholars working with ‘the comic’ in an interdisciplinary manner. The aim of this event is to allow postgraduate researchers to become familiar with a range of media related to comics, and to stimulate an overall understanding of the contemporary and past significance of drawn art within popular culture and beyond.
On the first day, starting in the afternoon, Dr Nicholas Hiley (Head of Special Collections and The British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent) will lead a workshop on doing research through an archive. Working with original material from the BCA, the aim of this workshop is for participants to explore how working with an archive can enrich their research. This workshop will also allow researchers to familiarize themselves with some of the holdings of the Courtauld Institute of Art. Issues about working with the archive and its materials will be discussed in small groups first, after which findings will be compared in plenum. We will close the day with a keynote by Dr Kasia Murawska-Muthesius (University of Birkbeck) on comics, cartoons and gender. On the second day, participants will present a 20-minute paper (with ten minutes for Q/A) about their own research on comics. Presentations about working with and re-exploring archives are particularly welcome. We will close the event with a keynote by Dr Gavin Parkinson (Courtauld Institute of Art), whose presentation will include a focus on Robert Benayoun and Roy Lichtenstein in relation to the comic.
If you would like to participate in the workshop and present a paper, please send an abstract of 200 words to comicscrossroads@gmail.com covering your research area and intended presentation. The deadline for submissions is Friday, 26th August 2016. Application open to all, though numbers are restricted. Priority is given to CHASE-funded students. Conference fees for speakers will be waved (including catering on the day). Budget permitting, we might be able to reimburse some other costs. Conference attendance on the Saturday is free and open to all.
Julia Sechlehner, Fred Francis and Dieter Declercq