Art, Witness and Therapy: Nonfiction Comics in the English Classroom
Wednesday, March 8 at 7:00 PM Athenaeum Hall, 2nd floor
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum 1171 Main St. St. Johnsburyt, VT

With its hand-drawn panels, tiers, gutters, and speech bubbles, what can comics do that other documentary media—such as photography and film—can't? What makes comics particularly well suited to explore the complexities of history, trauma, and human behavior? What makes it effective as a form of therapy? How can nonfiction comics help students of literature become better close readers and critical thinkers?

Drawing on The Most Costly Journey (the 2022 Vermont Reads book) as well as works of art and criticism by Kate Beaton, Hilary Chute, Art Spiegelman, and others, this talk takes up these questions and reflects on the ways that contemporary nonfiction comics is challenging and revitalizing the study of literature.

Kevin Cattrell is an English and Humanities teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy, where his courses include a senior elective on graphic narrative that first ran in the fall of 2022. He has a Ph.D. in English from Rutgers, where he specialized in Early American literature.

This event is free, ADA accessible and open to the public.

Questions? Contact Adele West-Fisher, 802-748-8291 or awestfisher@stjathenaeum.org

May 21, 2024, 7 to 8:30 PM

May 24 to 25, 2024

May 25, 2024, 10 AM to 12 PM