HHMN 170 - Empathy and the Western Graphic Novel

3 Hour(s)

A course taught using contemporary graphic novels from Western Europe and America. Students will focus on the development of skills of empathy, as they learn to ‘read’ the visual storytelling effects of this vibrant ‘new’ art form. Panel and character design, the placement of text within panels, the way in which characters’ faces and bodies move, and many other features all contribute to the narrative and provide opportunities to ‘join’ the characters, empathize with them, in the unfolding story-experience their emotions, become part of their fictional life journey. As in the fine arts, graphic novels are about joy, love, sorrow, fear, pride, hope, despair, ecstasy, anger, surprise; power, triumph, generosity, conflict, faith, spirituality, heroism, domesticity. The main question for this course: how do artists express these deeply human feelings-and how can we recognize and share them when we see them in these works of sequential art? The roots of graphic novel storytelling techniques will also be explored in the visual culture of many pre-modern periods, from Egypt to the Baroque, as well as in early graphic media and comic books.

General Education Requirements: Arts
Cross-Listed with ARTH 170