PopCC Director Biz Nijdam Invited to Speak at 2025 Comics Studies Society Conference
July 18, 2025
Pop Culture Cluster Director Dr. Biz Nijdam has been invited to speak at the Graduate Student Caucus’ 10 Year Anniversary Roundtable to be held during the upcoming Comics Studies Society Conference. Read below for more on the conference and the Call for Papers!
The Xwémalhkwu Hero Stories Project Featured in chek+ News Interview
July 11, 2025
Xwémalhkwu Hero Stories: A Graphic Novel, a collaboration with the Homalco First Nation, Education without Borders (EwB),and the UBC Comic Studies Cluster was recently featured on the chek+ platform in an episode of their Our Native Land series. You can watch the episode here! This graphic novel is the result of the UBC Comics Studies Cluster’s “Remember […]
Announcing the Comics-to-Research Graduate Award Spring 2024-5 Winners!
July 11, 2025
Please join us in congratulating Spring 2024-5 Comics-to-Research Graduate Award winners Laen Hershler (Language and Literacy Education) and Cynthia Liu (Creative Writing)! Laen’s project Memory in Motion: Dialoguing with Holocaust Survivor Voices through Research-based Theatre and Performative Inquiry explores Holocaust memory through the embodied practice of theatre and audience reflection. Cynthia is working on a […]
Meet the 2024-5 recipients of the Pop Pedagogies Award!
July 11, 2025
The Popular Media for Social Change Research Excellence Cluster is excited to announce the 2024-5 recipients of the Pop Pedagogies Award. Please join us in congratulating them! Each of these scholars is developing innovative lesson plans, modules, or units that meaningfully integrate popular media (imagined broadly) into teaching and learning. Over the coming year, you […]
Call for Artists: Linguaphobia, Linguistic Indifference, Linguistic Disobedience, & the Monolingual University
June 16, 2025
The Comics Studies Research Cluster at UBC is seeking applications from cartoonists to work on an exciting new graphic novel project on Linguaphobia, Linguistic Indifference, Linguistic Disobedience, & the Monolingual University.”
UBC Pop Culture & Comics Studies Clusters Launch the Pop Pedagogies Program & Research-to-Comics Graduate Awards!
May 4, 2025
The UBC Pop Culture & Comics Studies Clusters are excited to announce the launch of two new funding opportunities for UBC graduate students, contingent faculty, and junior scholars.
CSC Member V. Rahbar Receives Frederick Luis Aldama Emerging BIPOC Comics Studies Leadership Award & Strategic Equity & Anti-Racism (StEAR) Enhancement Funding!
May 4, 2025
The article also mentions her upcoming project, “Understanding Through Comics: A Comics and Comics Studies Journal Club”, which received funding from the Strategic Equity & Anti-Racism (StEAR) Enhancement Fund. The project is a year-long series inviting faculty, staff, and students to learn about antiracism and equity through comics.
Dr. Nijdam Receives AMS UBC OER Champion Award
May 3, 2025
This year’s awards recognize faculty who champion equitable, inclusive, and innovative education, including those advancing affordable access through Open Educational Resources (OERs) and fostering inclusive learning through Universal…
Dr. Nijdam featured in Pancouver Article on Comics and Memory during Vancouver’s LunarFest 2025
February 17, 2025
Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam, Director of the Comic Studies Cluster in the Public Humanities Hub, was recently featured in Pancouver for her presentation at LunarFest 2025. On February 12 at Green College UBC, Nijdam spoke alongside Taiwanese…
Games & Social Justice Lecture Series Launches with Roundtable of Local Developers
January 17, 2025
The Games and Social Justice Lecture Series (2025) is an ongoing series of speaker events that examine the intersections between digital and analog gaming cultures and the work of social justice. Speakers will explore various approaches to video games…
Explore a Comics Exhibition — Mediating Archives: Exploring History Through Comics
January 16, 2025
From January 14th to February 15th, come by the main floor of Koerner Library to explore the exhibition “Mediating Archives: Exploring History Through Comics,” a partnership between Koerner Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, and the Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies (CENES).
Celebrating Indigenous Storytelling Through Comics: The Xwémalhkwu Hero Stories Project
December 12, 2024
The UBC Comics Studies Cluster is excited to announce the completion of Xwémalhkwu Hero Stories: A Graphic Novel, a collaboration with the Homalco First Nation and Education without Borders (EwB).
Donate to the International Comic Arts Forum TODAY!
December 3, 2024
On this Giving Tuesday, please consider supporting comics scholarship by donating to the International Comic Arts Forum!
EUA Graphics Project Featured on Holland Bloorview Hospital Blog!
November 7, 2024
The EUA Graphics Project has been featured on Bloom, the blog for the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.
Pop Culture Cluster launchs inaugural Multilingual Horror Film Festival at UBC!
October 25, 2024
Celebrate multilingualism this Halloween season at UBC’s inaugural Multilingual Horror Film Festival at The Norm Theatre from October 27-31!
Dr. Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam receives Public Engagement Award
July 15, 2024
These awards are given to individuals who have exhibited outstanding public humanities engagement in the past two years and whose work has contributed to the expansion of the range of voices in public discourse.
UBC Comics Studies Cluster and EUA Graphics featured in UBC Faculty of Arts Editorial
June 14, 2024
Last month, the UBC Comics Studies Cluster was featured in a Faculty of Arts editorial piece on comics in educational contexts. Entitled “Education through comics: Exploring the pedagogical value of comic art,” the article was based on interviews with CSC Director Biz Nijdam and other UBC scholars working on and with comics and graphic narrative.
Recap: Grand Rounds Exhibition of EUA Graphics by Setareh Setayesh
May 30, 2024
On Friday, May 17th, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR) hosted an exhibition of graphic artwork illustrating the experiences of neurodivergent children and their families as they face challenges in accessing medical services. The artwork is part of a collaborative project between Paediatrician Dr. Anamaria Richardson and UBC Comics Studies Cluster Director Dr. Biz Nijdam. The comics were displayed in the Chieng Family Atrium of BCCHR during the weekly Grand Rounds, along with presentations from Dr. Richardson and Dr. Nijdam, Setareh Setayesh, an undergraduate student working on the project, and Rebecca “Bex” Burgess, a freelance comic artist and illustrator.
EUA Graphics Online Comics Exhibition: Now Live!
May 14, 2024
The innovative project “Exams Under Anaesthesia (EUA) Graphics: Equity and Neurodiversity in the Operating Room” has officially launched its online exhibition. Hosted by the UBC Comics Studies Cluster, this exhibition is available for viewing at comics.arts.ubc.ca/eua-graphics.
News Media Spotlight on the CSC’s “Remember” Project
January 28, 2024
The “Remember” Comics Project is a collaboration between the UBC Comics Studies Cluster, Indigenous media personality and award-winning podcaster Tchadas Leo, and the nonprofit Education without Borders that combines the rich oral histories of the Homalco First Nation with the vibrant visuality of the comics medium.
Call for Artist Applications: Immigration Detention in Canada – Law and Lived Experience
January 18, 2024
The Comics Studies Research Cluster at UBC is seeking applications from cartoonists to work on an exciting new graphic novel project. The project seeks to capture the lived experience of Canadian immigration detention through comics. The project will involve working with 2-3 individuals who arrived in Canada as refugees and were subject to immigration detention. The content of the graphic novels will then explore each individual’s story, based on interviews with the individuals and media produced in collaboration with them.
The “Remember Comics” Project’s Site Visit to Bute Inlet with the Homalco First Nation
January 14, 2024
In November 2023, the UBC Comics Studies Cluster (CSC) and the non-profit Education without Borders (EwB) joined the Homalco First Nation on a site visit to Bute Inlet. The visit took place as part of the CSC’s “Remember” Comics project, a partnership that is led by Homalco media personality Tchadas Leo and cofounded by EwB.
Work-In-Progress: Exams Under Anesthesia (EUA) Graphics
December 13, 2023
“Exams Under Anaesthesia (EUA) Graphics: Equity and Neurodiversity in the Operating Room” is a project undertaken by Dr. Anamaria Richardson and the UBC Comic Studies Cluster that sought nine cartoonists to create nine short (8–12 page) comics based on interviews with the parents of neurodiverse children on their experience in the BC healthcare system.