English 495SH : The Comic Book Superhero
STUDENT BLOGS
ABOUT THE COURSE
English 495SH: The Comic Book Superhero is an intensive senior seminar at CSU Northridge during the Spring 2015 semester. It began on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and will last until mid-May. The class focuses on the history, narrative and artistic conventions, audiences, and cultural significance of the costumed superhero genre, with emphasis on its original medium, the comic book. From the genre’s first boom in the late 1930s and early ’40s, through its revival in the ’60s, to its revision and elaboration since the ’80s—and its enormous presence in films, TV, videogames, and other media today—495SH examines the superhero in cultural, ideological, and aesthetic terms.
This writing-intensive course involves a great deal of blogging (see the list of student blogs, above). It also requires much reading of history and criticism as well as comics. We're exploring the superhero as a social and ideological research problem as well as an entertainment genre. Each student has designed her/his own blog and will be maintaining it throughout the term. The blogs will be used for weekly reading responses and diverse other tasks, including: following a periodical comic book series over several issues; visiting and analyzing a local comic book shop; responding to a superhero film, TV series, and/or videogame; and presenting an original superhero creation.
Check out our 495SH Requirements and 495SH Textbooks pages for more info. And see below for a PDF of the document I gave out on the first day of class: a 2-page mini-syllabus or course summary.
This writing-intensive course involves a great deal of blogging (see the list of student blogs, above). It also requires much reading of history and criticism as well as comics. We're exploring the superhero as a social and ideological research problem as well as an entertainment genre. Each student has designed her/his own blog and will be maintaining it throughout the term. The blogs will be used for weekly reading responses and diverse other tasks, including: following a periodical comic book series over several issues; visiting and analyzing a local comic book shop; responding to a superhero film, TV series, and/or videogame; and presenting an original superhero creation.
Check out our 495SH Requirements and 495SH Textbooks pages for more info. And see below for a PDF of the document I gave out on the first day of class: a 2-page mini-syllabus or course summary.