Sally Pirie

It’s springtime and comics-based research is popping up everywhere kind of like those tulip bulbs we forgot we had planted in an odd shape on the front lawn!

First of all I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the GloTech (Global Technology for Social Justice Lab) Launch, hosted here at UMass Amherst this past Friday. Hosted beautifully by Professor Seyram Avle and Professor Matt Bui, I offered a quick and dirty guide to using hand made folded paper zines to support election integrity. After all, drawing and making your own books is action. I learned so much from my fellow presenters and also from the participants. There is a lot to learn here for me. Check out the amazing work they are doing: https://glotechlab.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Custom-Built-_-Feito-Sob-Medida-GloTech-Workshop-Draft-apr17.pdf

Secondly, the nice people at SEAMEO have invited me to talk about comics and cartoons and teaching and research in the context of early education and care. I have so many friends in this part of the world, and so much to learn from the innovative, powerful work SEAMEO is doing. Can’t wait!

The arts-based Carers in Higher Education project from Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau and myself has been to lots of exciting places, but this past week saw it installed at Middlesex University London. I am so pleased that it is up and generating some productive conversation amongst academics, admin, and community members alike. To learn more about the project and our work together, please visit either Professor Moreau’s brilliant website here or seek out my previous post here or here.

It has been a very big month or two for comics and comics-based research. I mean, to be honest, when isn’t it big month? A few things past and future going on:

• This coming Thursday I’m giving a workshop on how to use comics in your ethnographic research- this is giving a general intro to arts-based research, comics-based research, and using generative constraints in ethnographic writing and drawing, such as zines. There might still be room if you would like to attend!

• Can’t attend the workshop? Then drop us a note at CBR Lab to set up your own!

• I was able to attend the American Folklore Society virtual meetings ( I would love to have gone to Portland, however the in-person meetings conflicted with Non Fiction Comics Fest!) and was on the inaugural panel of the Comics and Culture Section. Our panel was pretty badass, titled, “Growing in the Gutter: Comics, Culture, and Vernacular Narrative Art.” And you can watch it here! https://afsannualmeeting.org/virtual-oct-11-2/session3507190000003465030/

• In just a few weeks I will be appearing and giving a free workshop at the oh-so-fun Non Fiction Comics Fest in Burlington, Vermont. I get to hang out with all my favorite cool art people and learn from them, which is pretty much my favorite thing to do. I’ll have hard copies of my favorite books (Shane! The Name Game! Mother Goose’s Field Guide To Male Audacity! All of them!) for sale at low prices, plus I’ll be making bespoke foldies on demand while supplies last. Don’t miss it. If you want to come to my workshop, please sign up in advance! Remember, the Fest is on the Saturday, but workshops are Sunday!