Dungeon Mastering the Real World
11:00am - 11:50am // Pickering Room
Panelists: Jason Lutes
Moderator: Issac Cates

What do tabletop roleplaying games teach us about storytelling, and how can those lessons apply even when the story involves neither dungeons nor dragons? Jason Lutes, winner of the Vermont Book Award among many other accolades, talks with UVM lecturer Isaac Cates about his experience moderating roleplaying games and how it informed the complex narrative threads in his historical fiction graphic novel masterpiece, Berlin.

The Bloom Of Youth: Memoir Comics Of The Most Awkward Years
12pm - 12:50pm // Pickering Room
Panelists: Caroline Cash, Natalie Norris, Nicole LaLiberty, Andy Lindquist
Moderator: Iona Fox

The formative years of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood have long provided rich content for autobiographical comics. Caroline Cash, Natalie Norris, Nicole LaLiberty, and Andy Linquist will explore questions related to sharing the humor, fear, pain, shame, isolation, love and hope of their earliest years in comic form.

Drawing from the Past: How To Approach History Through A Modern Lens
1pm - 1:50pm // Pickering Room
Panelists: Caitlin Cass, Glynnis Fawkes, Emily Zea, Joel Christian Gill
Moderator: Kristen Shull

Explore how to bring history to life through a modern lens, balancing historical accuracy with contemporary relevance. Cartoonists Caitlin Cass, Glynnis Fawkes, Joel Christian Gill, and Emily Zea will discuss how to identify compelling historical subjects that still resonate today, while integrating modern themes into past events. They’ll share their process for balancing historical accuracy with creative license, offering insights into how to craft compelling narratives that both educate and engage modern readers.

The Dirty Diamonds Guide To Self-Publishing Anthologies
2pm - 2:50pm // Pickering Room
Panelists: Kelly Phillips and Claire Folkman

Join Kelly Phillips and Claire Folkman, editors of the award-winning all-girl comic anthology, Dirty Diamonds, as they take you behind the scenes of their groundbreaking project. Since its founding in 2011, Dirty Diamonds has elevated the stories of over 200 artists from around the globe, providing a platform for women and femme comics creators to share their "semi" autobiographical stories - highlighting each of their lived experiences from a unique, firsthand perspective. Learn how the editors manage open submissions, what they look for in the creators they collaborate with, and how they fund each issue via crowdfunding. Whether you’re a creator, a publisher, or simply curious about how anthologies come together, this panel offers a rare glimpse into the work that goes into producing an acclaimed series.

Applied Cartooning: Using Comics In Journalism, History, and Healthcare Advocacy
4:00pm - 4:50pm // Pickering Room
Panelists: Cara Bean, Josh Neufield, Jess Ruliffson, Teppi Zuppo
Moderator: Luis Vivanco

Explore the transformative potential of Applied Cartooning. Comics can effectively be used to communicate complex issues with clarity and creativity while driving social and systemic change. Panelists, Cara Bean, Josh Neufield, Jess Ruliffson, and Teppi Zuppo will share their experience in the emerging field of Applied Cartooning and will discuss the medium’s role in education, advocacy, and community engagement.

Storytelling In Motion: Creating Graphic Narratives About And For Games
5:00pm - 5:50pm // Pickering Room
Panelists: Jon Chad, Box Brown, Sophie Yanow, Steenz
Moderator: Mac McLean

Join cartoonists Jon Chad, Box Brown, Sophie Yanow, and Steenz for a discussion about the intersection of comics and games. From graphic novels that explore the art and culture of gaming to the craft of designing and writing for games as a cartoonist, this panel delves into how these creators merge storytelling, strategy, and interactivity in their work.

Live Cartooning
12pm - 1pm // Local History Room
Instructor: Marek Bennett

Join us for an engaging and fun workshop on live cartooning! This session will kick off with an introduction to the art of live cartooning, exploring how to capture moments in a quick, visual way.

Following the introduction, participants will dive into a collaborative drawing project centered around a prompt. Attendees will work together to create a large-scale piece that will be displayed at the library, showcasing the diverse perspectives and creativity of our community. No prior drawing experience is necessary — just bring your imagination and a willingness to express yourself!

Jokes With A Twist!
1:15pm - 2:15pm // Local History Room
Instructors: Coco Fox, Annabel Driussi

Calling all silly cartoonists who want to learn about story structure! In this one hour workshop, you will leave with a funny (and/or punny) four panel comic that ends in a TWIST! We will guide you on how to make a character, give that character a goal, then create a great twist ending! All in a 4-panel joke. Can’t wait to see what stories you come up with!

Let’s Go On An Adventure… with comics!
2:30pm - 3:30pm // Local History Room
Instructor: Alexandra Gallant-Lee

Are you ready to turn your adventures into comics? Come discover the world of travel and diary comics, where you'll learn how to capture memories and special moments from your life through comics. This workshop will offer inspiration, tips and tricks for things like how to stay in the moment while sketching and traveling, plus special tools for making comics on the go and fun ways to weave mementos like photos, ticket stubs, event programs, etc. into your comics. You'll get some hands-on experience creating one page of your own travel or diary comic in this workshop. 

Necessary Whimsy: Comics-Based Ethnography and How To Do It
3:45pm - 4:45pm // Local History Room
Presenter: Sally Campbell Pirie

“Whimsy,” writes Joanna Mann, “provides a glimmer of hope that other ways and worlds are possible if we allow ourselves to be nourished by the energy their surprise affords.” This lecture seeks to provide nourishment in the context of our contemporary ontological emergency by offering comics as method. Specifically, we will explore the unique possibilities—and areas for care and concern—associated with the use of comics-based research (CBR) methods in ethnographic contexts, which have their own unique methodological concerns as well as histories around the use of comics as texts. Beginning with a thorough overview of CBR methods, the lecture will specifically describe how CBR may be used for data analysis as well as dissemination of study findings, while also teasing apart how CBR differs from and overlaps with other visual arts-based research methods. Practical recommendations and detailed how-to’s for using CBR—and whimsy-- in anthropology conclude the talk.