In this episode, Justin and Nicole speak with the MSU Comics Forum Keynote Scholar: Professor Deborah Elizabeth Whaley. Professor Whaley joined us for a conversation about her recent book, Black Women in Sequence, particularly the precarious-but-powerful relationship between fandoms, creators, and critics in regards to manga. We hear from Professor Whaley about her creative pedagogies with regards to critical-making in the classroom, and the significance of offering new approaches to teaching not only for students, but for ourselves as educators. Following up on her successful graduate research workshop with the MSU English Department, Professor Whaley enlightens us with some accessible entry-points into digital exhibitions and digital humanities. Finally, we end up geeking out about Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and look ahead to some of Professor Whaley's myriad projects, including the forthcoming Keywords for Comics Studiesthat she has co-edited with Ramzi Fawaz and Shelby Streeby.
Deborah Elizabeth Whaley is an artist, curator, writer, poet, and Professor at the University of Iowa. From 2017-2020, she served as Senior Scholar for Digital Arts and Humanities where she was an ambassador and liaison for the digital humanities, as well as director of the Public Digital Humanities graduate certificate. Currently, she is an administrative fellow in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Office of the Dean. Her recent and critically acclaimed book is Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels, and Anime(2015); it explores graphic novel production and comic book fandom, looking in particular at African, African American, and multiethnic women as deployed in television, film, animation, gaming, and print representations of comic book and graphic novel characters.
