An art teacher named Meghan Parker will soon be receiving her MA in education from Simon Fraser University with a final thesis done in comic book format, a Canadian first. Art Teacher in Process is a 236-page autobiographical comic that took two years to complete, detailing her thoughts and experiences as a new teacher, why art matters, and how it can connect us.
Despite successful public defence of the thesis and it already winning an award, sadly some people still scoff at the idea, be it out of jealousy or the ignorance of those who haven’t explored much outside of their specific field of study. A thesis doesn’t always have to be text-only, nor incoherent to all but experts, and she did a beautiful job utilizing a medium completely appropriate for her subject.
I adore graphic novels and think it’s wonderful that their value as an important form of literature is becoming more widely recognized and accepted; UFV even offers courses that specifically focus on the subject. For anyone interested, I highly recommend checking out ENGL 170 and ENGL 270, both of which will be offered this fall.
Image: Amara Gelaude/The Cascade
