Comics push the boundaries of representation in art, tempting curious readers with the hybrid possibilities that come from combining words and images. American comics have been met with restrictions due to reactionary fears about corrupting children. However, comics have a long history of challenging the status quo and forging a space for queer, women, and other marginalized communities to share their experiences through sequential art. With a focus on comics, zines, and self-published narrative images by trans, queer, and women artists, students explore the possibilities of comics as a medium of subversion and possibility. Read comics by Alison Bechdel, Bishakh Som, Lynda Barry, Julie Doucet, and others, and explore the image-texts that reshaped queer arts and literature. Students create their own comics in the tradition of boundary breaking narrative art. Prior experience in drawing is not required for success in this class.

Comparative analysis of forms, themes, and the politics of representation in film and video by and/or about LGBTQ people.