The last decade of American cinema has demonstrated the value of the comic genre and, given the cultural spotlight, we should seek to understand the origins of these episodic yet interwoven films. Comics have long been a reflection of the circumstances under which they were created, the social upheavals and cultural conditions of the era. This course will be an exploration of the genre as literature and its relationship to influential historical, social, political, and artistic movements. Intertwined with our textual analyses is a semester-long project in which students will create their own comic (artistic talent is not required).

Rhetoric and Composition (ENGL 15) an intensive, rhetorically based experience in reading and writing that will prepare you both to understand the communications that surround you and to succeed in your own communication efforts. Thus, in this course, we will focus specifically on analyzing verbal and visual texts (our reading) as well as on producing such texts (our writing), always in terms of rhetorical principles. ENGL 15 fulfills 3 credits of the writing and speaking requirement for general education.