CFP Using Comics to Build Community: Approaches to Teaching Comics (Roundtable) (Virtual) (9/30/2026; NeMLA 3/6-9/2027)

Using Comics to Build Community: Approaches to Teaching Comics (Roundtable) (Virtual)

Co-organizers Michael A. Torregrossa and Carl B. Sell

Sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Call for Papers - Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2026

58th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

Salve Regina University (Newport, RI)/Online.

Hybrid event: 6-9 March 2027


This session’s modality is Virtual Only, meaning all presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

Rationale

Teaching with comics offers many ways to engage with the conference theme of Empowering Communities.

Comics, through their interplay of text and image, can support and/or supplement the reading of traditional texts and help all students to engage equally with a story. In addition, comics, by themselves, offer unique examples and models of a wide array of literary genres, both as fiction and non-fiction, spurring conversations and debate within the classroom. Lastly, the creation of comics as an activity forges a third type of community as creators work together to produce and (often) publish their work.

In this session, we seek to highlight innovative ways that instructors are using comics in their classrooms, either through one of the strategies we’ve outlined or through something unique to their own teaching.

We welcome submissions from instructors of all disciplines and experiences.

 

Submission Instructions

All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22574 by 30 September 2026. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, Brief Bio, Media Needs, and Modality. This session’s modality is Virtual Only, meaning all presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.


Notification on the status of your submission will be made by 16 October 2026. If accepted, NeMLA asks you to confirm your participation with the session chairs by accepting their invitation and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2026. For the 2027 Convention, registration will be the same for in-person and remote attendance. (See NeMLA’s Membership and Registration page, at https://www.nemla.org/about/members.html, for full details.)


Be advised of the following policies for the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of any type. Registrants at NeMLA may not present the same abstract/paper on two different sessions. (See NeMLA’s Presenter Policies page, at https://www.nemla.org/convention/policies.html, for further details. Information on Session Types can be found at https://www.nemla.org/convention/sessions.html.)


NeMLA offers limited funding for travel to graduate students and to contingent faculty, adjunct instructors, independent scholars, and two-year college faculty. Details can be found at NeMLA’s Travel Awards page at https://www.nemla.org/awards/travel.html.


Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at MedievalinPopularCulture@gmail.com.


For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, please visit our blog, Mass Mediævalisms: The Middle Ages of Popular Culture, at https://MedievalinPopularCulture.blogspot.com/.

Keene State Sponsored Sessions for March 2025

I'm pleased to announce another collaborative effort to share our research. My thanks to Meriem Pages and the organizing committee of the Medieval and Renaissance Forum for their interest and support.

45th Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum:

Spanning the Globe: Thinking across Geographies in Medieval and Medievalism Studies

Keene State College (Keene, NH, USA)

SESSION V: Saturday, 29 March 2025, from 1:30-2:50 PM EDT

Medieval Comics Team-Up: Approaches for Research and Teaching (Hybrid)

Sponsored by the Medieval Comics Project

Presider, Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

Warrior as Weapon, Weapon as Warrior in Beowulf Comics

Richard Scott Nokes, Troy University

Dr. Richard Scott Nokes specializes in medieval literature and founder of Witan Publishing. He specializes in medieval manuscripts, modern medievalism, and digital publishing.  After completing his B.A. in English and Political Science in 1992, Nokes taught English as a Second Language in South Korea. In 1993, he established the American Studies Program at Klaipėda University in Lithuania, and taught Canadian literature at Lithuania Christian College. Nokes came to Troy University in 2003 after earning his Ph.D. In 2003 he was a Fulbright-Hayes scholar researching the Maya epic in Guatemala. In 2007, he was a regional finalist for the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. In 2011 he founded Witan Publishing, producing peer-reviewed academic works of medieval scholarship. Nokes has written, edited, and published dozens of peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and books. His most recent book is Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (2022).

Medieval Stories in Modern Mediums: Engaging Students with Arthurian Comic Book Adaptations

Rachael Warmington, Seton Hall University

Rachael Warmington’s research explores adaptation theory, medievalism, and the intersection of myth, politics, and identity in contemporary reimaginings of Arthurian legend. Rachael's most recent essay, “Dichotomies of Arthurian Medievalism: Dismantling and Proliferating the Status Quo,” was published in Medievalisms in a Global Age by Boydell & Brewer. Rachael's work includes arguing why Valkyrie does not need to be white in the MCU, debating what a medieval dragon should actually look like despite never having existed, and explaining why Arthur Curry is not the only superhero whose story has Arthurian influence.

Fables for our Time(lines): Engaging Medieval Themes with Umbrella Academy

Carlos Gonzalez, Harvard University

Carlos A. Gonzalez is a PhD candidate and scholar in the Romance Languages and Literatures Department at Harvard University. They specialize in 20th- and 21st-century French and Spanish fiction, concentrating on the global Weird, horror, and other speculative literatures. Their research explores the phenomenological underpinnings of Weird fiction and the ethical questions such an analysis evokes. They live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with their wife, shih tzu, and the creature that lives under their bed.

The Medieval World in Fin de Siècle Comics from Anglophone, Francophone, and Catalan Communities

Maryanne Rhett, Monmouth University

Maryanne Rhett is Chair and Professor of History at Monmouth University. She is trained as a world historian with a specialization in Middle Eastern and British imperial history and has only brief scholarly connections to medieval studies. However, Maryanne is also a scholar of comics with several articles and book chapters on various aspects of comics history and her second book examined the place of Islam in US comics between 1880 and 1922. She is currently working on a series of projects examining History Comics produced before 1945. These comics touch on historical records from prehistory to the contemporary moment.

Sponsored Sessions on Comics (and More) for NeMLA 2025

Cross-posted from the Mass Mediævalisms blog:

We are organizing the following sessions for the 56th Annual Convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association to be held in Philadelphia, 6-9 March. The full schedule is available online and registration is required to attend. 

Thursday, Mar 6 - Track 4 (02:15-04:15 PM)

4.12 Saving the Day for Medieval Studies: Using Comics for Teaching the Middle Ages (Roundtable)
Chair: Michael Torregrossa, Bristol Community College
Chair: Karen Casebier, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Location: 402 (Media Equipped)
Pedagogy & Professional & Cultural Studies and Media Studies

"The Medieval Comics Project: Ongoing Efforts to Expand the Field of Medieval Comics Scholarship" Michael Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

"From Borders to Panels: Integrating Comic Books into Medieval Studies Pedagogy" Rachael Warmington, Seton Hall University

"Reshaping Literary Canon: Graphic Novels as the Future of Classics" Derek Castle, University of New Hampshire

"Marvel 1602 and its Connection to the Scientific Enlightenment" Madison Cothern, University of Memphis

Sunday, Mar 9 - Track 22 (08:15-10:15 AM)

22.20 (Re)Animating the Middle Ages: Adapting the Medieval in Animated Media (Seminar)
Chair: Michael Torregrossa, Bristol Community College
Chair: Karen Casebier, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Location: 410 (Media Equipped)
Cultural Studies and Media Studies & Interdisciplinary Humanities

"Animating Marie de France : Emile Mercier’s Bisclavret (2011)" Karen Casebier, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

"Possibilities and Pitfalls in Arthurian Animation: An Exploration of the Darkstalkers Series (1995)" Michael Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

"The Black Knight: Women “Passing” as Knights in Children’s Entertainment" Megan Arnott, Lakehead University

"Cartoon Saloon's Wild Women: Monstrous Genders in Irish Animated Medievalism" Colin Wheeler, Kennesaw State University

"A Modern Look at Late Medieval Religion and Literacy in Obsidian Entertainment’s Pentiment" Olivia Mathers, Lehigh University

"Heresy and Crusades: How Modern Fascists Appropriated the Medieval Aesthetics of Warhammer 40k" William Weiss, Independent Scholar

CFP Saving the Day for Medieval Studies (9/30/2024; NeMLA Philadelphia 3/6-9/2025)

Saving the Day for Medieval Studies: Using Comics for Teaching the Middle Ages (Roundtable)

Co-organizers Michael A. Torregrossa, Karen Casey Casebier, and Carl B. Sell

Sponsored by Medieval Comics Project, an outreach effort of the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Call for Papers - Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2024

56th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown (Philadelphia, PA)

On-site event: 6-9 March 2025

Rationale

Interest in comics has steadily expanded as the medium has moved from a niche culture to mass media, and it is now well-attested that comics can serve as effective tools in the classroom for conveying information as well as expressing new interpretations of familiar stories and tropes. Consequently, we believe that many disciplines can benefit by using comics and related texts for teaching purposes. Our students are readily familiar with the conventions of the medium, and the interplay of text and image offers innovative ways to engage with course material.


Our focus in this session is on Medieval Studies and what comics can contribute to furthering the field. Comics based on medieval themes include adaptations of medieval stories as well as works that appropriate aspects of the medieval and transform this content into new characters or adventures.


In this session, we seek to build upon the work of medieval-comics scholars and share strategies for incorporating comics into the teaching of the various subfields of Medieval Studies, including art, history, languages, literature, and philosophy. We hope these ideas can help invigorate the discipline and bring more students into our classrooms. (As you plan your proposal, please see our growing resource guide for studies on medieval comics scholarship at https://tinyurl.com/MedievalComicsProjectBiblios.)

Submission Instructions

Our focus in this session is on Medieval Studies and what comics can contribute to furthering the field. We seek to build upon the work of medieval-comics scholars and share strategies for incorporating comics into the teaching of the various subfields of Medieval Studies, including art, history, languages, literature, and philosophy. We hope these ideas can help invigorate the discipline and bring more students into our classrooms. (As you plan your proposal, please see our growing resource guide for studies on medieval comics scholarship at https://tinyurl.com/MedievalComicsProjectBiblios.)


All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21106 by 30 September 2024. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, and Media Needs.


Notification on the status of your submission will be made by 16 October 2024. If accepted, NeMLA asks you to confirm your participation with the session chairs by accepting their invitations and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2024.


Be advised of the following policies of the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of different types (panels/seminars are considered of the same type). Submitters to the CFP site cannot upload the same abstract twice.(See the NeMLA Presenter Policies page, at https://www.nemla.org/convention/policies.html, for further details,)


NeMLA offers limited funding for travel to graduate students and to contingent faculty, adjunct instructors, independent scholars, and two-year college faculty. Details can be found at the NeMLA Travel Awards page at https://www.nemla.org/awards/travel.html.



Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at Comics.Get.Medieval@gmail.com.


For more information on the Medieval Comics Project please visit our website at https://Medieval-Comics-Project.blogspot.com/.

 

Update - Saving the Day at Kalamazoo: Finding Comics for Medievalist Research and Teaching (A Workshop)

Saving the Day at Kalamazoo: Finding Comics for Medievalist Research and Teaching (A Workshop) (Virtual)

59th International Congress on Medieval Studies (you must register to attend)

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)

Virtual Session

Session 319: Friday, 10 May 2024, from 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Sponsored by Medieval Comics Project

Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

Presider: Scott Manning, Independent Scholar

Presentation #1:

“Medieval Comics Project: The Basics”

Michael A. Torregrossa

Michael A. Torregrossa (he/him/his) is a graduate of the Medieval Studies program at the University of Connecticut (Storrs) and works as an adjunct instructor of writing and literature courses in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. His research focuses on popular culture’s adaptation and appropriation of literary classics, including the Arthurian legends, Beowulf, and the Robin Hood story, and he has published an annotated comicsography, an article, and two encyclopedia entries on Arthurian comics. As part of his work on medieval-themed comics, Michael founded the Arthurian Comics Discussion List in 2000 and the Medieval Comics Project Discussion List in 2005. He also maintains their associated blogs: The Arthur of the Comics Project and The Medieval Comics Project. 

Michael’s profile on Academia.edu (with links to his work on medieval-themed comics).

Medieval Comics Project: The Basics

Introduction

The term medieval comics refers both to comic-like media from the medieval past (such as the Bayeux tapestry and manuscript illuminations) as well as to adaptations and appropriations of the medieval produced by creators of comics in the post-medieval world. This second group represents a fascinating form of global medievalisms featured in materials that include cartoons, comic books, comic strips, graphic albums, graphic novels, and related media (such as anime, books, collectibles, films, games, television programming, and toys) based on comics.  

My presentation will share some general links and some starting points to find and access some comics and engage with them within the larger context of the field, 

Medieval Comics Links

Sponsored Resources

The Medieval Comics Project

The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List (sign up at Groups.io)

The Arthurian Comics Project

The Arthurian Comics Discussion List (sign up at Groups.io)

Comics and Medieval Studies Survey (link to Google Form)

Monographs

Bishop, Chris, Medievalist Comics and the American Century (UP of Mississippi).

Gorgievski, Sandra, Representing the Crusades: From Medieval Imagination to Contemporary Popular Culture (McFarland).

Nokes, Richard Scott, Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (McFarland).

Tondro, Jason, Superheroes of the Round Table: Comics Connections to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (McFarland).

Resources for Finding and Accessing Medieval Comics and Medieval Comics Scholarship

Keywords

Medieval:

Arthurian, Beowulf/Grendel, Celtic, Chaucer/Canterbury Tales, Cid, Dante/Inferno/Commedia, Joan of Arc/Jeanne d'Arc, Knight (?), Medieval/Middle Ages/Dark Ages, Norse Mythology, Robin, Roland, Vikings. 

Medievalisms:

Cervantes, Scott, Hugo, Twain, Wagner, Stoker, and Smurfs.

Library Databases

MLA International Bibliography (EBSCOhost) (best starting point)

Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) (useful secondary resources; also includes some reviews)

Gale Literature Resource Center (seems to draw from a different set of resources) 

Search restrictors: (comics or "graphic novels" or "comic books" or “comic strip” or cartoon or manga)

Academic Databases for Comics

Bonn Online Bibliography of Comics Research 

Comics-Specific Databases and Other Resources

Grand Comics Database (great starting resource) 

Comics Vine (good to supplement the GCD)

Lone Star Comics website (create an account to access the “Advanced Search” - most comics have some description)

Comic Book Plus (repository of out-of-copyright comics; items have limited descriptions that are searchable)

Presentation #2

“Comics and Graphic Novels in the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database (BABD)”

Britt Mize, Texas A&M Univ.

Britt Mize (he/him) is a Professor in the Department of English at Texas A&M University. He works on Old English poetry and poetics, Middle English drama, and (of greatest relevance here) post-1705 representations and adaptations of Beowulf. As part of this work on Beowulf, Britt has created The Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database, which (in addition to its freestanding existence as a digital resource) has supported several traditional publications, including the book Beowulf as Children’s Literature (2021).

BABD link: beowulf.dh.tamu.edu

Beowulf as Children’s Literature (U of Toronto)

Beowulf as Children’s Literature (JSTOR)

Presentation #3

“The Medieval Comics Database Project”

Richard Scott Nokes, Troy Univ.

Richard Scott Nokes (he/him) is a professor of medieval literature at Troy University and the Senior Academic Editor for Witan Publishing. His most recent book is Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Scott is also the lead on a new project called The Medieval Comics Database, the focus of his presentation today. This resource includes the work of scholars from the United States as well as Vietnam, India, and Uganda.

The Medieval Comics Database

Presentation #4

“Questioning Signifiers of Authenticity in Medieval Comics for Pedagogical Use”

Elizabeth Allyn Woock, Palacký Univ.

Straddling two fields—Medieval Studies and Literature—Elizabeth Allyn Woock (she/her) is an assistant professor at Palacký University, in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Her research ranges from questions on medieval monasticism to investigating medievalisms in modern-day comic books, elements of narrative in comic books, and medievalisms in the Gothic and horror modes. She just finished a book about the poetics of medievalist spaces in comics called Medieval Spaces in Comics: Affect and Ideology, which should be out soon. She is eagerly following the development of comics as a form of scholarly communication within comics-based research.

Personal webpage: eallynwoock.com

Presentation: Finding Comics for Medievalist Research and Teaching.pptx

Presentation #5

“Finding Medievalist Comics: Using Kindle”

Carl B. Sell, Univ. of Pittsburgh

Dr. Carl B. Sell (he/him/his) is the Assistant Director of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program at the University of Pittsburgh. His research explores appropriations of Arthurian legend narratives, characters, and themes in popular culture as an extension of the medieval adaptive tradition. He serves as a member of the advisory boards for The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and the Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain, and he is the author of journal articles and book chapters on Arthurian topics and DC’s Aquaman.

Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17w13gp7uqMX63N5kQmmbi-H-C-ceUw9i/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=100650849758700312253&rtpof=true&sd=true 

Amazon Kindle Store for Comics and Graphic Novels:

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/comics-store/home?ref_=sub_ebooks_cat_5 

Comics Sessions in November at MAPACA

I'm pleased to announce the the Medieval Comics Project is sponsoring another session on medieval-themed comics at this year's meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association to be held online 10-12 November 2022. Access to the conference is through paid registration. Full details are available at MAPACA's website accessible from this link. 

Here the the session details:

Comics and Medieval Studies: Reflections on the Field in Commemoration of the 85th Anniversary of Prince Valiant

MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE / PANEL

Friday, November 11, 11:00 am to 12:15 pm (The Paper Nautilus)

Presentations

Comics in Medievalist Research and Teaching: Pitfalls and Possibilities

Michael A Torregrossa (Independent scholar)

Reworkings of Arthurian Legend in Comics: Positive Change and Perpetuation of Isms

Rachael Kathleen Warmington (Seton Hall University)

Horrible Hags and Villainous Vixens: Visual images of Female Villains in Medieval Comics

Diana Vecchio (Widener University)

Session chair

Scott Manning (Independent scholar)

Murphy on Comics and Teaching

Published recently in SMART is a fascinating essay by medievalist and cartoonist Patrick Murphy of Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. The full issue can be purchased directly from SMART. 

Here is the citation:

Murphy, Patrick. “Teaching the History of the English Language with Comics.” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, vol. 28, no. 1, Spring 2021, pp. 101-21. 

Beowulf in Comics

I've begun a project collecting representations of Beowulf in comic format as a resource for teaching the text. If you have any suggestions please contact me at MedievalinPopularCulture@gmail.com (I'm in that account more often than the Medieval Comics Project one). I'm also looking for works of scholarship (or reviews and/or interviews) on these adaptations and will eventually add my findings to the blog.

One interesting text, I have discovered so far is a story in Jumbo Comics No. 50 (Apr. 1943). It looks to be the first adaptation of the work into American comics. The story is sort of a version of the Connecticut Yankee narrative with a hot-headed, twentieth-century young man trying to one-up Beowulf with varied results. I am hoping to present on the comic this fall at our MAPACA roundtable, and I include here the second page of the story where the youth faces Grendel for the first time. I've also added an image of Beowulf's arrival at Heorot to the main page of the blog.

Michael Torregrosa
Founder and Blog Editor