First Year Seminar 191HFA18 - FYS- Holocaust Meets Comics

This seminar is designed to introduce students to three foundational graphic novels from the canon, namely Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, and Art Spiegelman's Maus I and II. Using McCloud's work as a compass, students will explore Maus I and II while asking some of the following questions: What are comics? What is a graphic novel? Which elements, taken in tandem, constitute a graphic novel? How has time been depicted spatially? How are the relationships between figures depicted visually? What is being told, and how does it relate to what the author wants to tell? Spiegelman's magnum opuses will be situated historically by visiting the UMass Amherst Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies. Additionally, students will participate in a workshop with W.E.B. DuBois Library in order to learn how to navigate and access resources for their studies.

First year students only - (Freshmen or Sophomore status) First year (Fr or Soph)