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2015 UF Conference Schedule

Schedule of the 2015 UF Comics Conference — “Comics Read but Seldom Seen”

*Keynotes and Receptions in Ustler Atrium. Registration and All Other Events in Pugh 210

Friday, April 10

11:00 – 11:20 am: Registration and Refreshments

11:20 – 11:30 am: Opening Remarks

11:30 am-1:10 pm Race, Women, Power, Marvel
Moderator: Melissa Loucks, University of Florida

  • “We Are Who We Choose To Be…”: Sadistic Choices, Forking Paths, and the Rejection of Narrative and Social Progress in Superhero Comics and Films (Eric Berlatsky, Florida Atlantic University)
  • Hysteria – Women’s Power, Sexuality and Insanity in Comics (Laura Diaz De Arce, Florida Atlantic University)
  • Female Representation in Comics Redefined: Women of Color as Shown in the New Ms. Marvel and Serenity Comic Series (Margaret Ann Robbins, University of Georgia)
  • Shape-Shifting to Fit the Body Politic: The New Ms. Marvel’s Complex Battle for Justice, Assimilation, and Survival (Jessica Baldanzi, Goshen College)

1:20 – 2:40 pm Her Own Heroine: Feminism and Diversity in the Comic Book Industry
Moderator: Patricia B. Worrall, University of North Georgia

  • Conforming, Constricting, and Controlling: A Superwoman Confronting Her Universe (Veronica Harris, University of North Georgia)
  • Who am I?: Analyzing the Constrained Identity of Rogue (Yeni Bolaños, University of North Georgia)
  • Kamala Khan: A Heroine for the Modern Age (Rachel Andrews, University of North Georgia)

2:50 – 4:10 pm Diversifying Comics
Moderator: Terry Harpold, University of Florida

  • The End of Comic Geeks: Comics Fan Identity in an Age of Diversity (Aaron Kashtan, Miami University, Ohio)
  • Overcoming Accessibility Issues in Diversity-Centric Comic Book Research (Edd Schneider and Roxana Palmer, University of South Florida)
  • Visual Bibliotherapy and the Graphic Novel: Mirroring the Needs of the Marginalized (Peter Cannon, Roxanna Palmer, and Edd Schneider, University of South Florida)

4:10 – 5:30 pm Identity in Transnational & Multi-ethnic Comics
Moderator: Anuja Madan, University of Florida

  • From Gang Girl to Punk to Curandera: Chicana Consciousness as Embodied by Izzy Ortiz in Jamie Hernandez’s Locas (Melissa Coss Aquino, CUNY Bronx Community College)
  • All the Things We Want to Be: Cartooning, Latinidad, and the Borderlands (Jarod Roselló, University of South Florida)
  • “Computer se Bhi Tej Chalta Hai” – Pran’s Chacha Chaudhary and Comic Book Fan Culture in India (Catherine Thomas, Jindal Global Law School, Haryana)

6:00 – 7:30 pm Dinner (on your own)

7:30 – 9:00 pm Keynote Lecture by Dr. Sheena C. Howard in Ustler Atrium

9:00 – 10:00 pm Reception (Refreshments Provided) in Ustler Atrium

Saturday, April 11

8:30 – 9:00 am Registration and Breakfast (provided)

9:00 – 11:00 am Creative Workshop: “Tell Your Story” with Comics Artist Leela Corman

11:15 am – 12:35 pm Required Reading: Diversity and the Graphic Novel
Moderator: Laurie Gries, University of Florida

  • “I Just Don’t Know if You’re Right for Her”: Gene Luen Yang, Adrian Tomine, and Asian-American Men’s Internalized Racism (Justus Humphrey, Penn State Harrisburg)
  • “Ventilation of the Heart” in Marjane Satrapi’s Embroideries: Discussion as Narrative Place (Maite Urcaregui, University of Colorado Boulder)
  • Playing Social Justice Warrior: Critiquing the Avatar in Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang’s In Real Life (Anastasia Salter, University of Central Florida)

12:35 – 1:30 pm Lunch (Provided)

1:30 – 2:50 pm Undergraduate Panel: Disability in the Comics of the Edgerton Collection
Moderator: Jason Tondro, College of Costal Georgia

  • Psychedlic/Cinematic: Changing Perceptions of Nick Fury (Nichole Herrin, College of Costal Georgia)
  • Oracle or Batgirl: Barbara Gordon’s Journey of Self-Discovery (Leianna DeBoe, College of Costal Georgia)
  • “For Leah”: The Secret History of Hawkeye #19 (Oreon Jackson, College of Costal Georgia)

3:00 – 4:20 pm Disabled Bodies: Representing Disability in Visual Media
Moderator: Kayley Thomas, University of Florida

  • Seen But Not Heard: Hawkeye, Comics, and Disability (Natalie Sheppard, University of New Orleans)
  • When They’re at Home: The Dotted Line Between Super-Abilities and Disabilities (Asmaa Ghonim, University of Florida)
  • “Everyone but Me Seems to Keep Growing:” Ben, Laura, and Representations of Disability in Craig Thompson’s Blankets (William Nesbitt, Beacon College)

4:30 – 5:50 pm Invisible Men and Women: Race and Representation in Genre Comics
Moderator: Jaquelin Elliott, University of Florida

  • At Home on the Range? Forgotten Cowboys in the American Comic Book West (Christopher Hayton, Florida State University)
  • Race, Gender and the Concept of Women in Dystopian Genre (Tyra Oldham, LANDSDS — LAND Sustainable Development Solutions)
  • EC vs. the USA: Race, Nation, and Universal History in “Judgment Day” and “An Eye for an Eye” (Phillip Wegner, University of Florida)

6:00 – 7:30 pm Dinner (on your own)

7:30 – 9:00 pm Keynote Lecture by Dr. José Alaniz in Ustler Atrium

9:00 – 10:00 pm Reception (Refreshments Provided) in Ustler Atrium

Sunday, April 12

8:30 – 9:00 am Breakfast (provided)

9:00 – 10:20 am Representation in Anime & Manga
Moderator: Katherine Shaeffer, University of Florida

  • “The Existence of Emotion is Nothing but a Burden:” Emotional Repressions as (Re)presentations of Psychological Disorders in Anime and Manga” (Kathy Nguyen, Texas Woman’s University)
  • Queer Cooking: Fumi Yoshinaga and Queer Existence in Modern Japan (Andrew John Smith, Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
  • Yamete Kudasai! Romanticized Rape, Humiliated Homosexuality: A Deconstruction of Patriarchal Values in Yaoi and Gay Manga (Janardana Hayton, Florida State University)

10:30 am – 12:10 pm Love in the Margins
Moderator: Megan Fowler, University of Florida

  • The “Banalisation of Homosexuality”: Political engagement, Queer Desire and sentimental Romance in Julie Maroh’s Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sarah Richardson, University of Melbourne)
  • The Queer Language of Comics: Visual Narrative and Marginalized Experience in How Loathsome (Ashley Manchester, University of Florida)
  • Queer Heroes: The Objectification and Marginalization of Homosexual Characters in Superhero Comics (Joseph Willis, University of Nottingham)
  • “A Thin Line Between the Inside and the Outside”: HIV and Graphic Life Writing (Jordana Greenblatt, York University)

12:20 – 1:40 pm Queerness and (In)visibility
Moderator: Ashley Manchester, University of Florida

  • “Trouble or Pleasure”: The Problematic Representation of John Constantine’s Bisexuality (Spencer Chalifour, University of Florida)
  • The Case of Renee Montoya: The Potential for Intersectional Feminist Narrative through Transmedia Storytelling (Megan Fowler, University of Florida)
  • “Welcome to ‘White’ Vale”: (Non)Visual Rhetoric and The Erasure of Racial Minorities in Welcome to Night Vale Fan Art (Jaquelin Elliott, University of Florida)

1:40-1:50 pm Closing Remarks