Reading in the Gutter: Recent Episodes
Dani Kachorsky, Ashley Dallacqua, & Laura Jimenez
Reading in the Gutter (www.readinginthegutter.com) is a podcast that attempts to bridge the space between comics and education. We aim to have thoughtful discussion with students, teachers, parents, administrators, librarians, and researchers about comics and roles they can place in classrooms and other learning contexts. We seek to share research, resources, pedagogy, and curriculum focused on comics with interested stakeholders that is theoretically sound and empirically vetted. (Cover art by Jason Labret.)
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On this episode of Reading in the Gutter, Dani discusses the relationship between poetry and comics with Ernesto Abeytia, a poet and professor of poetry at Arizona State University. In addition to thinking about how comics can function as inspiration for poetry, they consider the similarities between poetry and comics' art forms.
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In this episode of Reading in the Gutter, Dani speaks with Lexie Vanderveen, a high school English teacher, about using graphic novels to hance existing memoir units. This discussion includes helpful strategies, shared successes, and lessons learned.
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In the final episode of Season 2, Dani chats with Dr. David Low, a comics and graphic novel scholar whose research focuses on issues of identity and social justice. David shares how he came to be a comics scholar, why he believes comics have a place in education, how literature circles can be reenvisioned for graphic novels, and why graphic novels and comics lend themselves to discussion of identity and social justice.
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In this episode, Dani chats with J. Gonzo about his career as a comic book artist and author. He shares his experiences as Chicano artist and discusses the importance of representation in the comics medium. Additionally, he shares his views on the importance of the comics in classroom spaces as well as how he hopes educators take up his work educational contexts.
Host Dani Kachorsky welcomes high school English teachers Shelby Stringer and Amanda Molitor to Reading in the Gutter to reflect on their experiences teaching Gareth Hinds' graphic novel adaptation of The Odyssey. The three teachers discuss why they selected Gareth Hinds' adaptation, their successes and challenges using this text in classroom, and how they hope to revise their use of the text in the future.
In this episode of Reading in the Gutter, Dani chats with Brooke Feldman-Cryan, a high school English and Theater teacher, about her experiences teaching the graphic novel Maus for the first time. Brooke shares her motivation behind selecting the text as well as some challenges and successes she experienced, and ultimately, what she would require in order to teach the graphic novel in the future.
In this episode of Reading in the Gutter, Dani hosts Dr. Sean P. Connors from the University of Arkansas to discuss reading and creating graphic novel memoirs. Sean shares his experiences teaching a college course focused on graphic novel memoirs, as well as a culminating experience in which students draft their own comic book style memoirs.
In this episode of Reading in the Gutter, Dani hosts Dr. Daryl Axelrod for a fun-filled discussion about using digital tools to create digital comics. Daryl shares his experiences helping kids to create original comics related to science topics as well as his experiences guiding students through transmediating (or adapting) traditional texts into a variety of digital comics forms. His suggestions for teachers are practical and don't break the bank.
Reading in the Gutter host, Dani Kachorsky, interviews Frank Baker, author of the graphic novel, We Survived the Holocaust. In this episode, Frank discusses the importance of sharing and teaching Holocaust stories in today's day and age, as well as the importance of preparing students to be critical thinkers. Additionally, Frank shares how he was invited to share the Goldberg family's story, why he decide a graphic novel was the 'right' format to use, and what he hopes students and teachers will take from the narrative.
Reading in the Gutter returns with our first episode for Season 2 to discuss "Teaching comics in different contexts (college, high school, and middle school)..." with Jason D. DeHart. In this episode, Dani, Ashley, Stephanie, and Jason consider the similarities and differences in teaching comics at different grade levels, how students accept or push back against the use of comics and graphic novels in the classroom, and what constitutes complexity and literary merit in classroom spaces. We also discuss challenges and successes we've experienced teaching comics at all levels of education.
The Reading in the Gutterteam is [finally] back! In this episode, Laura, Ashley, and Dani discuss superheroes and superhero comics with Dr. Francisco Torres. Francisco shares his experiences teaching a unit called "Heroes of Color" in which students read and discussed mainstream superhero comics that also featured diverse individuals and experiences. After reading and discussing these comics, students created their own comics around issues of social justice that mattered to them and were relevant to their lives.
In what we affectionately refer to as the Corona Virus Special, the Reading in the Gutter team, Laura, Ashley, and Dani, speak with Dr. Jason DeHart about making and assessing comics in classroom spaces. Jason provides insights based on both his experiences as a middle school teacher and a university professor. He discusses how he has moved from using student-generated comics to assess content learning to treating the making of comics as a meaning-making process that helps make reading visible.
In this episode, Dr. Stergios Botzakis joins the Reading in the Gutter team to discuss the history of comics as they relate to education. In addition to sharing his own journey to becoming a comics reader and scholar, Sterg outlines common stigmas attached to comics and graphic novels in educational circles that still persist today and addresses the historical influences that led to such perceptions. Together with the team, Sterg makes recommendations to teachers wanting to overcome such stigmas to use comics in their curriculum and practice.
This episode of Reading in the Gutter picks up where Episode 2 left off. The team continues our conversation with Dr. Sara Kersten Parrish about her experiences reading, teaching, and researching the graphic novel El Deafo by CeCe Bell. Sara shares her experiences reading this book with college students and elementary school students. Then, she provides insights and recommendations for teachers at all grade levels who might want to bring this text into their classroom spaces. The episode closes out with graphic novel recommendations from Sara and The Reading in the Gutter team.
In this episode, the Reading in the Gutter team speaks with Dr. Sara Kersten Parrish about her experiences reading, teaching, and researching the Newbery Award-winning graphic novel El Deafoby CeCe Bell. Sara reflects on her identity as a deaf woman reading El Deafofor the first time as well as the pedagogical strategies that she used to support students' readings of the graphic novel. The team discusses other comics that include deaf characters and how ASL has is being represented in comics/graphic novels. This episode includes Part 1 of this discussion which will be picked up in Episode 3.
In the premiere episode of Reading in the Gutter, the podcast creators, Dani Kachorsky, Ashley Dallacqua, and Laura Jiménez, share how they became interested comics and graphic novels as well as what motivated their interest in understanding the role comics and graphic novels can play in education. They also discuss their goals for the podcast and what listeners can expect to hear about over the coming season. The episode wraps up with comic book and graphic novel recommendations.