NEH Summer Institute 2024
Using Comics to Teach Social Justice
July 14 - July 29, 2024
San Diego State University
Scholars who study comics have long recognized the medium’s harmful power to perpetuate racist and misogynistic stereotypes; but, more recently, innovative educators have been embracing comics’ incredible capacity to boldly challenge injustice and to encourage meaningful social change.
The Center for Comics Studies at San Diego State University hosted “Using Comics to Teach Social Justice,” a residential institute in San Diego, CA, July 14-29, 2024. Participants in this institute harnessed the potential of the vibrant comics medium as a way to engage their students with timely social issues including racial injustice, misogyny, wealth inequality, immigration, food insecurity, and climate justice, to name just a few.
This Institute assembled twenty-five K-12 educators from across the United States. Participants hailed from sixteen different states [CA (6), FL, GA, IL (2), KS, KY, MA (2), MN, NV, NJ (2), NC, OR, PA, TN (2), VA, and WA]. They had taught an average of 9.16 years, with ten participants teaching fewer than 5 years. Thirteen had never participated in an NEH program before. Grade level taught by the participants included K-5 (5); 6-8 (10); and 9-12 (10) and teaching areas, spanned English/Language Arts, History/Social Sciences, and media literacy.
Institute participants: 1) engaged with experienced SDSU teacher-scholars who have developed vibrant comics curriculum addressing the medium’s usefulness for engaging social justice themes (including navigating issues around “banned books,” many of which are challenged precisely because of their social justice content); 2) explored SDSU’s extensive comics collection for pedagogical ideas and teachable content; and 3) participated in the thriving local comics convention scene (i.e. San Diego Comic-Con International); in order to 4) develop comics-related lesson plans suitable to their own state content/skills standards in multiple humanistic disciplines.
The Using Comics to Teach Social Justice Summer Institute was made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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