During my adventure into San Diego Comic-Con 2019, I stopped by the Comics Arts Conference for the Comics Arts Conference Session #12: The Poster Session which was held on July 20th, 2019.
Panelists included Jason Goldman-Hall (Pioneer High School), Brandon Daniels (Webster University), Michelle D. Miranda (Farmingdale State College, SUNY), Danielle Kohfeldt, John Nguyen, and Marcicela Correa-Chavez (all of California State University, Long Beach), Carl Renold (LMFT), Barbara Glaeser (California State University, Fullerton), Susan Butler (Capistrano Unified School District), Brianna Flores (MANIA), Patrick Murphy (Weber State University), Antonio Chavarria (Museum of Indian Arts and Culture), Diego Romero (Contemporary Pueblo Potter), Christopher Warren and Jonelle Prideaux (both of California State University, Long Beach), Edd Schneider and Juli Salvatore (both of Ithaca College), Noah Simonson (Hillsboro School District), Eric Bruce, Emily Lilo, Shawn Sellers, and Janet Roberts (all of Western Oregon University), Matt Yockey (University of Toledo), Deseure DeBerry, Amy Wagner (University of the Incarnate Word), Robert Hoffman (The Military Technical College), and Peter Coogan, Alana Korol, and Elena Biske (all of Washington University).
For full disclosure, I was able to attend SDCC in part thanks to the CAC, an academic conference that is a part of the convention, as they provided tickets to my significant other and myself, so that she could take part in this particular panel.
The Poster Session had a different setup compared to the usual panel: Each panelist presented their own individual topic throughout the room while attendees were free to walk about and engage with the panelists on their chosen topic. Topics ranged from studies on the representation of forensic science in comic books to the effects of using comic books to teach English in the Middle East.
The panelists themselves were a mix of scientists, doctors, and teachers presenting their research. Like any CAC panel, The Poster Session was an informative space to learn more about the science behind the art form of comics. The room felt a little cramped for what the presentation was; chairs from previous presentations made getting around a little difficult, but the actual information each panelist provided was engaging and unique, and it was exciting to get to personally interact with these researchers and ask questions in real time.
CAC’s history (having existed at SDCC for nearly 30 years) is one of spreading new ideas to the comic scholar community, and The Poster Session is essentially the proving ground for such ideas. While I think the layman comic fan might find the program just a bit dry, the work that these individuals are doing changes the way we view comic books every day.
