For those of you who saw the Holy Homework, Batman! Comics in the Classroom! presentation at in-service, the powerpoint is now available online. It includes a useful, partially annotated bibliography for those interested in exploring the subject further. You can access the presentation through the Faculty Information link on the Library's Home Page, where you will also find information on how to make student research projects more successful, the value of scheduling research instruction to improve student success, how to put materials and textbooks on reserve and the advantages to your students of doing so, and how to request that library purchase specific materials.
The possibilities for enjoying and working with comics have multiplied radically with the internet. Just as comics themselves have undergone a revolution in content, style and genre, the ways in which people can interact with them have as well. Interested in finding comics? Various comics can be read online, from contemporary strip comics at Comics.com to some of the more obscure (and justifiably so -- yes, I'm referring to you Yank and Doodle) Golden Age titles. Then check The Webcomic List, an archive catalog of regularly updated web comics that provides rankings, user comments, a most recent update posting, and a forum for discussions related to web comic topics. (Webcomics you may want to investigate: xkcd, 1.00 FTE, and The Oatmeal (off-color but funny).
Tools to Create Comics
Even people who regard themselves as non-artists have tools that enable them to create comics and comic books online. And depending upon the nature of what users want to do, the degree of sophistication of the results can be amazing. For example, Marvel provides a site that lets users write their own comic book or comic using templates of characters, backgrounds, etc. As with any tool of this nature, options are strictly controlled. The characters are restricted in terms of poses and are all in teenage motifs. Similar sites that let users play around with familiar characters are the South Park Create an Avatar, which let's you assemble a South Park character that looks any way you want it too, and Simpsonize Me or the Create a Simpsons Avatar from the Simpsons Movie site, which let you turn yourself into a Simpsons character. HeroMachine 2.5 lets you create your own Superhero, while Joystiq Mii Characters lets you create Miis (as used in Wii games) that can move free from the video game.
Want panel templates to use yourself or to give to students for comic project? The web provides multiples sources. Comic strip printables offers a variety of non-standard layouts in addition to a full complement of more traditional panel patterns. The Create a Comic Project's Template page has further non-standard panels to add to your collection. Here is a simulated full script for a comic book that instead explains how the manuscript functions to guide the artwork. The Read.Write.Think Project has a Comic Creator that enables users to assemble a very simple comic using standard elements. Of even more use, potentially, is the planning sheet sheet, which can guide novice strip writers through the process of creation. A much better simple construction tool is Make Beliefs Comix creator, which lets users change characters emotions and add other elements that are more important to older potential cartoonists.
Toondoo is comic creation with a flexible range of options. The site that lets users participate as individuals or lets educators subscribe for extremely reasonable rates based on time and number of users. The educator option enables instructors too create social networks, embed the site elsewhere, get additional clip art with an educational focus, customize their clip art and monitor the site in ways not available to individual users.
Especially for Teachers
TeachingComics.org is a web site that while primarily focused on material for those teaching about comics has plenty of useful resources for those who are instead teaching with comics. The handouts and exercises both contain very valuable resources to increase both an instructor's and students' understanding of the medium. Want more information about comics as a form? Here are some good sites to investigate: Artbomb.net (check out Jessica Abel's quick introduction) and Comics Worth Reading.
And in time for Halloween...
A couple of free creepy Halloween comic books online!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Creation, the Universe and Everything
This week the DACC Library Lines takes a look at the origin of everything, by taking a look at the what various realms of knowledge have to tell us about the creation of the universe and the origin of existence, and how those realms of knowledge co-exist with one another.
Genesis
Science
Science has long investigated the way that universe came into being. For a simple straightforward explanation of the big bang theory, the widely accepted scientific theory about the origins of the universe, as well as ways in which the theory has evolved and where there are problematic elements, see NASA's WMAP Introduction to Cosmology web site. One of the best overviews of the recent discoveries and research can be found on the PBS Nova: Origins web site, which includes a timeline of the history of the universe as well as the one hour section of the program available as online video Back to the Beginning that chronicles and explains the current thinking. NASA's web site offers information on several missions and discoveries related to elements of universal history on its Universe web site. NASA to Probe the Universe's First Moments shows how the space agency is building an instrument that will enable them to investigate the origins of the universe. Although it is no longer being updated (since 9/09), the archived web site Universe Forum, hosted at Harvard University, offers lots of clear and comprehensible information about the big bang, the earth's place in the cosmos, black holes and dark energy. And to get a sense of both scope and time, check out the Digital Universe, available for both viewing and download from the Hayden Planetarium.
Science has long investigated the way that universe came into being. For a simple straightforward explanation of the big bang theory, the widely accepted scientific theory about the origins of the universe, as well as ways in which the theory has evolved and where there are problematic elements, see NASA's WMAP Introduction to Cosmology web site. One of the best overviews of the recent discoveries and research can be found on the PBS Nova: Origins web site, which includes a timeline of the history of the universe as well as the one hour section of the program available as online video Back to the Beginning that chronicles and explains the current thinking. NASA's web site offers information on several missions and discoveries related to elements of universal history on its Universe web site. NASA to Probe the Universe's First Moments shows how the space agency is building an instrument that will enable them to investigate the origins of the universe. Although it is no longer being updated (since 9/09), the archived web site Universe Forum, hosted at Harvard University, offers lots of clear and comprehensible information about the big bang, the earth's place in the cosmos, black holes and dark energy. And to get a sense of both scope and time, check out the Digital Universe, available for both viewing and download from the Hayden Planetarium.
Creation stories
But science is not the only source people turn to for information regarding the origins of the universe. Traditionally religion has fulfilled this role by constructing stories to explain the creation of the earth and heavens. History World offers an overview of creation stories from China to the Hebrew Bible, beginning with a short discussion of common themes and motifs. View a flash animation of a wide range of creation accounts in The Big Myth video. Joseph Campbell was probably the most well known scholar of mythology, the realm of study which intertwines with religion and so has much to say about recurring thematic concerns of the type found in origins and creation accounts. You can get an insight into his thinking on these issues on the site Myths-Dreams-Symbols. Providing an interesting view into the intensity of interaction between religion and science in the area of origins is an essay on the Joseph Campbell Foundation web site by Karl E.H. Seigfried, "Stephen Hawking: The Myths and the Critics", in which he explores the furious outrage that greeted Hawking's new book The Grand Design in which the physicist dismissed the need for creator.
Genesis
Of particular interest to the majority of people in the United States is the Biblical story of Genesis. But like any textual source, Genesis is open to interpretation. A critical interpretative issue in this regard is the question of the Earth's age. Religious Tolerance provides an explanation of the various interpretations of the controversy regarding the difference between Young Earth and Old Earth creationists and scientists. Jason Lisle, who is appearing on campus this week courtesy of the Power House Christian Ministry student organization, represents the Young Earth contingent -- those that believe the earth was created by God approximately 6,000 and no more than 10,000 years ago. Connected with AnswersinGenesis.org, one of the leading Young Earth organizations, Lisle's particular area of expertise is astronomy. He is the planetarium director for the Creation Museum. He has published extensively in the creation research press, including his most recent article, Anisotropic Synchrony Convention: A Solution to the Distant Starlight Problem. The problem of light from stars so far away as to precede the Young Earth creation date is THE problem for astronomers in this field and Lisle has previously addressed it in Distant Starlight and Genesis: Conventions of Time Measurement, writing under the name of Robert Newton. (Young Earth scientists of note have felt pressured, according to AnswersinGenesis to write pseudonymously to avoid undue criticism from professional colleagues.) He responded to the PBS Origins programs in two essays, here and here. For a general view of the scientific community's response to Lisle's latest article, see the Sensuous Curmudgeon's blog entry: Jason Lisle's Instant Starlight Paper.
Despite what some on both sides of the religion/science debate would assert, there are many who comfortably inhabit both realms. Reasons.org is an example of organization that both accepts scientific discovery while also affirming the Christian faith. And several thinkers believe that Buddhism and western science are compatible to greater or lesser degrees, although there has also been criticism of this position. Hinduism's relationship to science is more complex, much like Judeo-Christianity's, but it does have a long history of embracing scientific discovery that is largely unknown in the West. Modern Islam's relationship with science is perhaps the most contested, next to Christianity's. This article from Discover Magazine explores the way that Islamic fundamentalism filters current scientific thought in much the same way Young Earth creationism preconditions the perspective of its adherents. Compare for example the latest issue of Islam & Science with Answers Research Journal. This article from Middle East Forum puts Islam in a historical context to examine the current state of the scientific/religious divide. But Islam does not have a single voice anymore than Christianity or Hinduism do. And Muslim-Science.com provides an online space in which those concerned with finding the compatible spaces between the realms can exchange ideas.
Despite what some on both sides of the religion/science debate would assert, there are many who comfortably inhabit both realms. Reasons.org is an example of organization that both accepts scientific discovery while also affirming the Christian faith. And several thinkers believe that Buddhism and western science are compatible to greater or lesser degrees, although there has also been criticism of this position. Hinduism's relationship to science is more complex, much like Judeo-Christianity's, but it does have a long history of embracing scientific discovery that is largely unknown in the West. Modern Islam's relationship with science is perhaps the most contested, next to Christianity's. This article from Discover Magazine explores the way that Islamic fundamentalism filters current scientific thought in much the same way Young Earth creationism preconditions the perspective of its adherents. Compare for example the latest issue of Islam & Science with Answers Research Journal. This article from Middle East Forum puts Islam in a historical context to examine the current state of the scientific/religious divide. But Islam does not have a single voice anymore than Christianity or Hinduism do. And Muslim-Science.com provides an online space in which those concerned with finding the compatible spaces between the realms can exchange ideas.
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