Gender Through Comic Books

Gender Through Comic Books (also known as #SuperMOOC because of its popular hash tag on Twitter) was a MOOC taught April 2, 2013 through May 18, 2013.
More than 7,000 students enrolled in the April 2013 Gender Through Comic Books course taught by Christina Blanch of Ball State University on the Canvas platform. Blanch, an anthropologist, thought that "using comic books could be a way to approach teaching gender without the trepidation some students feel" when approaching the subject. Students read scholarly articles each week in addition to comics (offered as e-comics by Comixology), plus participated in live interviews with comic book creators with questions submitted via Twitter. There has been some controversy over issues of gender and patriarchy related to MOOCS, and Blanch's class served to break through barriers related to gender, the comics medium, and pedagogy.
The course was divided into six week-long modules and covered the topics of: What is gender?, Gender and Culture: How we learn our gender, Who is producing comic book culture?, Femininity, Masculinity, and Gendered Spaces and Consuming Comics.
Significant to the course content were the interviews with prominent comic book creators: Terry Moore author of Strangers in Paradise; Mark Waid, writer for Superman; Kelly Sue DeConnick, Steve Wacker, and Sana Amanant, creators of the new Captain Marvel; Gail Simone author of Secret Six; Scott Snyder author of Swamp Thing; and Brian K. Vaughn author of Y: The Last Man. Students could put questions forth in the discussion boards for the class, or use a Twitter hashtag to tweet questions during the interviews.
Week One: What is gender?
Week one was an introduction into what gender is, and how gender differs from sex. Readings for this week included Strangers in Paradise, volumes 1 and 2, and the first issue of Rachel Rising, all by writer/artist Terry Moore. The week's interview was with Moore, as well. Additional reading for the introduction to gender was the article "Night to His Day": The Social Construction of Gender by Judith Lorber.
Week Two: Gender and Culture: How we learn our gender
Week two discussed how gender is learned. Blanch interviewed Mark Waid, and the comic book selections were Action Comics #1 (the first appearance of Superman) and #267, and Waid's Birthright series. Additionally, the article "Doing Gender" by Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman was assigned.
Week Three: Who is producing comic book culture?
Week three dealt with comic books as a medium of communication. The interview included Kelly Sue DeConnick, Sana Ammant and Steve Wacker and their roles as writers and editors. The assigned comics were Captain Marvel #1-7, Ms. Marvel #1, vol. 1, Ms. Marvel #1, vol. 2, and Daredevil #1. The article "How Comic Books are Made from Idea to Print" was the supplemental reading.
Week Four: Femininity
Week four discussed femininity, and the readings included Secret Six (vol. 2) 1-7, Wonder Woman #1, Wonder Woman (New 52) #7, Birds of Prey #56, and Batgirl #0. The interview was with Gail Simone. (Due to technical difficulties, this was a recorded interview, not live as the others were.) The article "Spice World: Constructing Femininity the Popular Way" by Dafna Lemish was also assigned.
Week Five: Masculinity
Week five discussed masculinity, and the comics assigned were both from the New 52: Batman #0 and Swamp Thing #0. The interview was with Scott Snyder. Additional reading was "Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero" by Jeffrey A. Brown
Week Six: Gendered Spaces and Consuming Comics
The final week discussed how different spaces can be gendered, and differences in how comics are consumed. The readings were from Y: The Last Man (#1-6) and Saga #1, and the interview was with Brian K. Vaughan. The article "Gendered Spaces: Gym Culture and the Construction of Gender" by Thomas Johansson was also assigned.
The student interaction in the message boards added to the discussions. Since the students were not in a classroom, this was the way they could share ideas and questions, and challenge others to see things from another point of view. Because the class was also global, the students brought with them their own cultural differences, which also added to the discussions.

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