Learning with Comics and World War One stories

A free joint online talk by Dr Natasa Lackovic, organised by Lancaster City Museum and Lancaster University, aims to challenge participants understanding of war and comics, coming up on Thursday 28th April 2022.

What would happen if a group of teenagers found a corpse of a World War One soldier in the melting ice of northern Italy? Was the post-armistice blockade an act that sowed the seeds of new war? Is the video game industry that relies on combat gaming a modern continuation of war mindset?

These and many other profound and challenging questions are tackled by the authors that contributed to the graphic anthology Traces of the Great War, published in 2019 by the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

This upcoming talk by Dr Natasa Lackovic from Lancaster University will use the anthology as an example of how comics and graphic novels are far from a light read for struggling learners, but, on the contrary, can be an integral part of learning and thinking that engages critical faculties, research, compassion and creativity, essential for the futures of today’s learners. 

The talk builds on the selected stories from the anthology, focusing on language, history, citizenship, and the power of storytelling. Accessible to wide audiences, including school and university educators across subjects and domains.

Dr Natasa Lackovic is a lecturer in the department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, as well as a Director of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Evaluation (CHERE), and of Lancaster University interdisciplinary hub “ReOPeN”.

Natasa’s research interest broadly tackles educational futures as linked to challenges and complexities of material, digital and social futures, via interdisciplinary approaches and theories. She is particularly interested in methods development and innovation, and exploring a relational ontology in theory and practice at the nexus of “the society (cultural and ideological production and impact) – material artefacts – digital technology – ecology”.

• Learning with Comics and World War One stories | 7.00pm – 8.00pm Thursday 28th April 2022 | Online and Free | Book here

• The World War One comic resources are free to download as both a PDF and Powerpoint presentation here on the Lakes International Comic Art Festival web site