Creative Nonfiction Comics Making

The Certificate in Creative Nonfiction Comics Making program provides training in all aspects of the creation of nonfiction comics for professional publication. Comics are no longer constrained by limited perceptions of genre. Today, they are increasingly recognized across fields and disciplines as being an invaluable way to present and share information, ideas, and important stories of all sorts. This cohort-driven program is built around two intensives: the first a deep exploration of the practices and methods of nonfiction comics, and the second a production lab in which the cohort produces comics for publication in collaboration with campus partners. 

1. Identify significant formal features in the creation of comics and speak to their purpose and contribution to the storytelling and meaning-making.
2. Perform in-depth analysis in the form of a work of comics to delve into the mechanics of its construction and offer deep insight into the author's choices so to inform their own.
3. Effectively communicate a narrative or idea through the comics form, with a command of a variety of techniques to produce comics.
4. Create comics utilizing a variety of different approaches.
5. Demonstrate command of a variety of techniques and steps that go into making a comic – from conception, to layouts, to producing a finished work and create comics utilizing a variety of different approaches.
6. Develop their own method for comics-making in order to convey narratives and conduct research most effectively for themselves.
7. Recognize the ways that they can employ the comics form to speak to real-world situations.
8. Gain experience and confidence in grasping all the steps to producing publishable work – including pitch, proposal, negotiating contracts, time management, delivery schedule, etc.