Although seen primarily as a form of entertainment for children and young adults, the potential of comic books as an educational tool was recognized very early on. The comic book in its modern form first appeared in the 1930s, and it was not long before the form’s educational potential was tapped with Classic Comics #1 (later Classics Illustrated), an adaptation of The Three Musketeers, first appearing in 1941.

Educators continue to experiment with comic books and graphic novels, and apply them in many different ways. They are wide ranging in their applicability, and flexible enough to be a tool for teaching literacy (e.g., Frey & Fisher, 2008; Monnin, 2013), the complexities of calculus (Gonick, 2011), or the nuance of business management (Short, Bauer, Ketchen, & Simon, 2011). In the field of medicine and mental/behavioral health, research is beginning to investigate comics and graphic novels as a tool for assisting patients and their families to construct and express their lived experiences of illness. Some initial applications have explored the use of graphic novels to convey family members’ painful experiences with hospice care for loved ones dying of terminal illnesses (Czerwiec & Huang, 2014) and with a loved one’s disability (Karasik & Karasik, 2004). Williams (2012) argues that the patient experience can be more fully understood through comic books and graphic novels because they integrate visual representations with narrative.

If you are involved in research or practice exploring the educational and therapeutic uses of the comic book, please consider submitting a proposal to share your work at a dynamic, interactive colloquium dedicated to rethinking the role of comics. We welcome abstracts describing creative work that has explored the interface of comic books/graphic novels in the fields of medicine or education. The creative work could be presented as a paper or poster presentation or as an actual work of art.

Submission Process
Submissions may be done electronically (Word, PDF, or RTF file format) to ospcolloquium@unk.edu.

For Paper or Poster presentation, include the following information:
1. Title
2. Author(s) – include affiliation, email address, phone number
3. Abstract (up to 250 words)
4. Choice of presentation format: Paper presentation or Poster

For Creative Work/Artwork, include the following information:
1. Title
2. Dimension
3. Media
4. Artist Statement (1-3 paragraphs)
5. Author – include affiliation, email address, phone number

Priority consideration will be given to submissions received by February 23, 2015 at midnight CST. Submissions will be considered until March 15, 2015.

If you have questions, please contact:
David K. Palmer, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska at Kearney
palmerd@unk.edu

Further information:
http://nblo.gs/12X3z0