Art Professor Says Graphic Stories Are Key Education Tools
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12/18/2020
By Katharine Webster
Gayathri Dayashankar, a psychology major who is pre-med, signed up for a new honors seminar last spring: Graphic Novels in Science and Medicine, taught by Karen Roehr, associate professor of art and design.
The class aligned with Dayashankar鈥檚 interest in medicine as well as her love of manga novels and comics, even though, she says modestly, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 really draw.鈥�
Then a first-year student, she greatly enjoyed the readings and the challenge of creating her own graphic stories. She even improved her drawing.
鈥淒uring high school, I only took hardcore academic classes. This was so much fun; it was such a breath of fresh air,鈥� Dayashankar says. 鈥淚 really liked getting pushed out of that academic box that I鈥檇 closed myself into.鈥�
That doesn鈥檛 mean the class is easy, though, she says. Students read, research and discuss both the story lines and the art in graphic novels on science and medicine, and then create their own.
For her final project, Dayashankar created a graphic novella about two women with differing incomes and health insurance coverage 鈥� and what happened to them and their families when they became seriously ill.
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鈥淲riting this out, I had to do a lot of my own research, and that definitely deepened my understanding of health disparities,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he project definitely fired up my passion to do something about them.鈥�
Roehr created the honors seminar after taking part in a conference on graphic medicine at the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2018. She is working on a graphic novel about a friendship between two teenagers with chronic illnesses, and spoke at a conference earlier this year about how graphic medicine can engage young adults in difficult topics.
In the seminar, Honors College students analyze story structure and complete assignments, such as retelling 鈥淭he Three Little Pigs鈥� from a scientific or medical perspective, and writing about something they fear, whether that鈥檚 COVID-19 or exposure to dangerous chemicals.
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Since the class is not aimed at art majors, Roehr says her main focus is on students鈥� ability to tell compelling stories, step by step. Such graphic stories are an important educational and public health tool, she says.
鈥淢y emphasis is helping students understand how tying words and images together is very powerful and helps people remember things,鈥� she says. 鈥淕raphic novels and comics can be used not just to educate about the biology of an illness, but also to show how the illness affects families and communities. When someone writes something in this form, it offers a link to empathy.鈥�
Roehr also teaches the visual language of comics, from choosing the size of a panel to portraying emotion and action.
Duc Vu, a chemistry major with a minor in education through the UTeach program, says he mostly drew stick figures when he took the course last spring, but he loved the storytelling aspect of the assignments, and 鈥� like Dayashankar 鈥� improved his drawing.
鈥淭he class was a lot of work, but it was also really enjoyable,鈥� he says. 鈥淧rof. Roehr would give us little lessons in drawing in a way that tells a story: the vanishing point, composition, how to draw certain objects. We got a lot of practice drawing facial expressions in class.鈥�
He says the class inspired him to start work on a graphic novel over the summer, in collaboration with an artist friend. He also thinks that the storytelling skills he learned will help him be a better teacher.
Image by Emma Baerny
Kyle Mehan, a senior nutritional science major, is also interested in how graphic stories can be used for education, especially health education. He鈥檚 seeing examples everywhere during the COVID-19 pandemic, he says.
鈥淲e had to practice communicating complex health topics through comics,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t made it feel way more accessible.鈥�
This semester, Roehr assigned the students to do a 鈥淐OVID comic,鈥� based on their experiences during the pandemic. Many of the resulting stories spoke of the students鈥� stress as they studied online while isolated from friends, Mehan says.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 have to have a happy ending, which kept it kind of real,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t gave us an opportunity to vent. It was good to organize my thoughts and how I felt about it 鈥� it was really kind of therapeutic.鈥�
Mehan鈥檚 final project aims to introduce veganism to children and teens. A vegan himself, he wants to educate young people about the links between a diet heavy in animal products and chronic diseases.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to say, 鈥楬ey, you can eat plants and do something to actively prevent these problems. You actually have some weapons in your arsenal, and those weapons are in your fridge,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淢y biggest challenge is trying not to come off as preachy.鈥�
