{"id":14209,"date":"2019-10-22T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/ressource\/using-visual-storytelling-to-explore-distressing-topics-in-the-college-classroom\/"},"modified":"2021-11-16T23:18:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T04:18:03","slug":"using-visual-storytelling-to-explore-distressing-topics-in-the-college-classroom","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/resource\/using-visual-storytelling-to-explore-distressing-topics-in-the-college-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Visual Storytelling to Explore Distressing Topics in the College Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor’s Note<\/strong><\/p>\n

This text was originally published as “Felix and Anya: Exploring Trauma and Resilience through Visual Storytelling<\/a>” in an issue of Dawson College\u2019s Academic Matters<\/em>. It was edited to meet Profweb\u2019s editorial standards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How do you speak about trauma without it becoming too personal? How do you provide support to a student whose painful memories and emotions might be triggered by such a discussion? An ECQ grant (Entente Canada-Quebec<\/em>) in 2018-2019 allowed Mark McGuire at John Abbott College and I to develop a website presenting pedagogical materials using visual storytelling as a means of dealing with disturbing topics.<\/p>\n

For a variety of reasons, many teachers don\u2019t want to go anywhere near painful or upsetting topics. I certainly didn\u2019t! How, if at all, could I broach such a subject in class? My search eventually led me to a surprising destination: comics. As part of my exploration into trauma, I read Maus<\/em> by Art Speigelmann, a landmark graphic novel about the Holocaust, and became fascinated with the potential of using visual storytelling to process trauma.<\/p>\n

Mark and I created Felix and Anya<\/a>, a short graphic novel that follows 2 CEGEP students as they explore the impact of intergenerational trauma in their lives.<\/p>\n

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Felix and Anya is an illustrated short story that follows 2 college students as they examine the impacts of intergenerational trauma in their lives. Story by Daniel Goldsmith and Mark McGuire, art by Alain Chevarier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Experimenting with comics<\/h2>\n

In the winter of 2019, 6 teachers at Dawson, John Abbott, and Nunavut Arctic College used Felix and Anya<\/em> in their classrooms. Some hosted workshops with the illustrator, in which students began drawing their own stories. Giving students the tools to tell their own stories in a comic book enabled those who struggled with writing to communicate sophisticated content with simple drawings.<\/p>\n

The teachers came from a wide range of departments, including psychology, English, and social service. This underscored a key goal of our project, which was to offer material that could be used across a variety of disciplines.<\/p>\n

Teachers were able to integrate Felix and Anya<\/em> into their curriculum in their own way, tailoring the resource to their individual needs:<\/p>\n