The Graphic Novel: Animals and Ecology

Catalog description

We live in an era, the Anthropocene that is increasingly becoming defined by catastrophic climate change. We have witnessed the rise of the super-storms as well as devastating forest fires. Large numbers of animal species have been pushed to the brink of extinction, and many others have already disappeared. This course proposes to examine how the contemporary graphic novel (or comic books) has engaged with the crucial topics of animality and ecology and the posthuman. The first half of our class predominantly focuses on the way in which the graphic novel takes up urgent issues pertaining to the environment. The second part of our course takes up philosophical questions brought to the fore by contemporary animal studies.