Comics, Creativity, and Culture

Co-directors: Corey Creekmur (Cinema & Comparative Literature); Ana Merino (Spanish & Portuguese); Rachel Williams (Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies) 

Comics, Creativity, and Culture was a three-day symposium (October 5-8, 2011) intended to foster dynamic exchanges between notable creators and publishers of comics and scholars engaged in the cultural analysis of comics. It was a unique opportunity for students, faculty, and the community to join in a discussion of the ever growing area of comics, broadly defined to include comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels.  

MediaThe UI WorldCanvass program devoted its September 2011 program to "Comics, Creativity and Culture." Following are two links to that program:

The UI's Spectator Magazine ran a feature article on "Comics and Culture. Co-sponsored by The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies Annual Humanities Symposium, An International Programs Major Projects Award, the Arts and Humanities Initiative Conference Grant (Office of the VP for Research), The Ida Beam Visiting Professorship Program, the UI Lecture Committee, and The UI Center for the Book.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011 (All day) to Saturday, October 8, 2011 (All day)

Ana Merino

Co-director
Dr. Ana Merino is an Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Iowa, specializing in Creative Writing. She also works on Comics and Graphic Novels Criticism, Testimonial Representations and theories of Childhood Poverty and Marginality. She has published seven books of poetry, a youth novel, a scholarly book on comics and numerous articles and essays. Her poetry has been translated to several languages and it's included in more than twenty collections.

Corey Creekmur

Co-director , University of Iowa , English, Cinematic Arts, and Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies
Corey K. Creekmur is jointly appointed in Cinematic Arts and English and is affiliated with the Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies and the South Asian Studies Program. He also directs the Institute for Cinema and Culture. His research focuses on international popular cinema, cross-cultural film genres, and the way such films interact with other media. His work in American literature and popular culture deals with popular genres, including detective fiction and comics.

Rachel Williams

Co-director , University of Iowa , Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies and Art & Art History
Dr. Rachel Marie-Crane Williams, is an artist, teacher, and scholar with a joint appointment between the School of Art & Art History (Intermedia) and Gender, Women's, & Sexuality Studies. Her work as a researcher and creative scholar has always been focused on women’s issues, community, art, and people who are incarcerated.