Instructor: MK Czerwiec, RN, MA [email protected]
The term graphic medicine refers to the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of health, illness, disability, and caregiving. For the past fifteen years, health humanities scholars, artists, researchers, patients, and families have collaborated to explore how comics can improve communication, care, and, potentially, clinical outcomes. In this tutorial, students will read, analyze, and create comics to engage with this nascent field. No experience with comics or drawing are required. Sessions will be hybrid via Zoom and in-person.
Readings: The readings for this course will be provided, either as an online link or in class. No books are required for purchase. Any other books that will be mentioned or excerpted in the course can be found here.
Supplies: This course will utilize basic drawing skills and focus primarily on analog techniques. Minimal supplies are required, such as pencils, a dark black pen, paper, ruler, and an eraser. Coloring supplies (crayons, colored pencils, markers) are welcome but not absolutely necessary. Students will need a Zoom-enabled computer and internet access.
Week 1: Introductions
Thursday, January 8, noon, on Zoom
To read: Introduction to the Graphic Medicine Manifesto, available here.
To do: Explore the Graphic Medicine website. Come to class with a few questions about the work of graphic medicine.
Create your own comic avatar. Email to me.
To watch:
Homework for January 27 meeting:
-Read Chapter 7 of Making Nonfiction Comics (book provided)
-Read this journal article, “Are Comic Books Appropriate Health Education Formats to Offer Older Adult Patients?”
-Read these 3 examples of Educational comics: (floppies provided)
-Be prepared to discuss the assertions in Making Nonfiction Comics as they relate to the examples you will be reading.
-Consider a topic on which you would like to create a health education comic. Come prepared to discuss how you would approach this topic, perhaps a few thumbnail images, or even a few comic panels.
Week 2: Comics for Health Education
January 27, 4pm CT, class will take place on Zoom.
Discussion of:
-this journal article, “Are Comic Books Appropriate Health Education Formats to Offer Older Adult Patients?”
-these 3 examples of Educational comics: (floppies provided)
Follow up from today’s meeting:
here I am, I am me book mentioned during our chat
Week 3: Comics for Health Research
February 5, 1:30, on Zoom
Prep for class:
Rather than do more reading, this week I’d rather you put pen to paper (or stylus to pad, you do you.)
The assignment is to find a published research article or study, or even some data from a study, that is of interest to you and create a visual representation of it. You can share it and discuss your process when we meet.
Week 4: Comics for Health Advocacy
week of February 19, 12pm CT – place TBD
Prep for class:
Watch the following video, alert for the data-based assertions that Dr. Santos makes.
Here’s the assignment:
Additional reading (optional):
MS comics:
Class follow up links
Advocacy comics I shared:
Public Health Comics by Whit Taylor
A Patient Called Sam (Communicating with Patients Who Have Nonbinary Gender Identities)
The Four Panel Emergency Comic
A Formula for Advocacy Comics
Week 5: Graphic Bioethics
March 12, 11:30CT, MH&B office
Prep for class:
Read The Bad Doctor by Ian Williams
excerpt from Why Comics, Hillary Chute: “Why Illness and Disability?” (section on OCD in comics)
and these short Chapters from KeyWords/KeyImages in Graphic Medicine that discuss The Bad Doctor:
Chapter 23: OCD by Ian Williams
Chapter 5: OCD by Emmy Waldman and Jason Allen Katzenstein
Chapter 15: Therapeutic Performance by Anna Mukamal
Further resources:
- Graphic Medicine liaison to bioethics, Leah Eisenberg discusses graphic bioethics here.
- AMA Journal of Ethics special issue on Graphic Medicine and Health Care Ethics
- Clinical Ethics: A Graphic Medicine Casebook by Kimberly R. Myers, Molly L. Osborne, Charlotte A. Wu, and Illustrations by Zoe Schein, PSU Press, 2022.
Class followup resources:
Everything is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words & Pictures by Jason Adam Katzenstein
Clinical Ethics: A Graphic Medicine Casebook
Michael Green’s 4th year medical student comics and a story about the course
Nathan Gray’s (palliative care) comics
Infected for Science by Sydney Halpern and Tryge Faste
See One, Do One, Teach One by Grace Farris
WHAT IS IN YOUR SELF-CARE TOOLBOX? DRAW IT!
