Hi everyone!

We are now 2/10 or 1/5 the way through your first term at the UO!  We enjoyed all your work on the whiteboards about the different UO Libraries around campus.

Reviewing everyone’s Journal One there is some excellent comic book progress and many of the creative ideas are well ahead of schedule, but be sure to keep thinking about your comic and remember to reference the checklist.  For week three we are going to expect you to have your main topic finalized and it will be time to start drafting out your page and panel designs.

Some updates before we meet again next Tuesday:

1) Make sure to attend your 1:1 with Mazzy, if you have questions please contact her.  And keep an eye out for out of class events coming soon!

2) We will be sending your Achievement status sometime next week to give you the first glimpse of your progress in the course. Spoiler Alert: All are passing right now BUT don’t get behind on your comic progress or participating in class.

For next week:

1) Be ready to come to class and discuss the following topics: ‘the power of images through time and culture’ and “the ways in which images tell powerful stories” and “why use comics as an activist medium?” and finally “what is the role of the artist versus the viewer/reader in defining a work of art?”

2) Studio time will be a big part of the class time next week so again please bring in your art materials to keep moving forward on your comic work.

3) In preparation for our Museum of Art visit in Week 4 (Oct 22nd) please review this “Visitor Guidelines” document (we’ll briefly talk about the visit during our next week’s class).

See you all next week!

Robert and Mazzy

Hi!

We want to again welcome everyone to our My Visual Story FIG!

We were excited to meet everyone at our first Tuesday class session.  As these things go for the first meeting, we went over a good amount about the structure of the class and expectations.  Again please see the 2024 Resources section of this site for course materials and our Class Schedule, and at any time let us know if you have questions.

Your reminders and FYI for this week and going into our next class meeting:

1) For next week bring in your drafted out Journal #1 with the expectation that you will have your comic story idea (or at least a couple story ideas) and a start on brainstorming the narrative, themes, and characters.

2) For our October 8th class we will doing an activity around learning more about the UO Libraries, and also have time set aside for you to work on your comics.  Please bring in your own art supplies so you can start working on your comics: sketchbooks, pens, pencils, paper, digital tablet, and so on.

3) Keep your eye out for emails and group chat postings about upcoming out of class social and academic events!

5) Remember to sign up for your required 1:1 meetings with Mazzy!

If you have questions please email us!

Best,

Robert and Mazzy

Mazzy’s comic! Click on image to see larger version!

Robert’s work!

Robert’s photo

Welcome to the 2024 UO’s First-Year College Connections course, My Visual Story: Comics and Personal Storytelling!

We are excited to be working with you all this fall term!

Our College Connections course connects ENG 280: Introduction to Comic Studies and ASIA 399 Special Studies: Japanese Popular Culture in the World (very cool classes this year!).  This Fall term we will be helping you begin your journey as a student at the UO.  As part of this journey we will be working with you to bring out your interests along with what you are learning in all courses as an introduction to the rich academic offerings the UO has to offer.

We will be meeting Tuesdays, 4:00pm-5:20pm (check your DuckWeb account for the room location).

There is a Canvas site open for this course so you can easily find a link to this main site where all the main information will be posted.   We use this blog site so we can build on the information from previous years to make this a more robust educational experience that connects you what previous cohorts have done, just like you!

See these sections of this site:

• 2024 Resources for the syllabus, assignment documents, and other resource links.
• 2024 Class Schedule with information about our weekly schedule.
• Your instructors! Learn more about Robert and Mazzy here!
• Class Expectations, our basic expectations for what we will offer you as students of this FIG and what we expect from you.
• Class Introduction for information about the three courses associated with this FIG.

Please check back to this site for more updates as the terms progresses!

Best,

Robert and Mazzy!

Time to have some fun and be creative this Fall!

Below is a gallery of photos from the 2023 showcase.  You can click on a photograph thumbnail for a larger version and to start slideshow mode.

Hi everyone!

That was a wonderful showcase!  Hope you had fun and are enjoying each other’s comic books.  Lots of positive feedback from our guests.  Thank you all for making it a rewarding and fun event!

Information left for completing the class:

1) Name Your Achievement is due by the end of the day tomorrow (Friday), December 1st. This is not required but if you want to earn an extra Achievement we need your proposals this week.

2) Abstract/Introduction and YouTube Showcase are both due December 6th by 5:00pm (Wednesday of Finals Week).

3) One last ‘Social’ and one last ‘Academic’ coming up, please check your email and Canvas site for details.  If you are short on your required ‘Social’ Achievement these are essential to take part in.

4) A few of you have make up work to complete, please get this work in to make sure you pass the class.  If you have questions about what you are still missing to pass the class please contact Robert ASAP.

That’s all for now, will try and post some photos from the showcase very soon.

Best,

Robert and Mazzy