Presenter: Audra McNamee – Mathematics and Computer Science
Faculty Mentor(s): Kathleen Freeman
Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Comics, Classics and Analysis
While the number of high-quality educational comics is growing, there are no modern long-form comics discussing computer science at an undergraduate level. The computer science comics that do exist, along with being for a younger audience, are generally focused on teaching the reader programming concepts without exploring other aspects of computer science. For this thesis I scripted and drew the 54-page comic Welcome to Computer Science, which introduces the reader to computer science concepts including computer architecture, programming languages, and the internet. As a narrative comic written for an undergraduate audience, it can draw in readers who otherwise might not choose to engage with the material. As a breadth-first introduction, the comic provides the reader with a foundational understanding of computers and computer science; this work may provide even more experienced students with a better understanding of how their computer science classes relate to the rest of the field.