The world of comics and academics collided at the annual Comic Con in San Diego this summer. An undergraduate research group from UT Permian Basin was invited to present their research on graphic novels.
Their journey to the famed, usually star studded, convention began with a white donkey and an elective course offered by Dr. Myra Salcedo. The UT Permian Basin course allowed students to study illustrated “comics” that tell stories through text and drawings. It was during that course that student Jose Tarango, a deactivated Marine, read The White Donkey: Terminal Lance written and illustrated by Maximilian Uriatre, a veteran and former turret gunner who served in Iraq in 2006 with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Tarango and fellow classmate Jonathan Carpenter were encouraged to join the UT Permian Basin Undergraduate Research Program to further their study of graphic novels.
Salcedo taught the visual literacy theory that Tarango and Carpenter selected for their research. Tarango then began asking fellow military buddies if graphic sparked dialogue with them. Salcedo compiled theory with student work, wrote an abstract, and entered the work into the Comic Con Arts Conference 2019.
"I thought it was a small venue, reading the requirements for papers. I just wanted my student to experience a national conference hoping that we could get into the venue. At UT Permian Basin, the Undergraduate Research Program encourages faculty to mentor students in order to get them to (at least) apply for conferences and publish academic papers. I was shocked when I received the acceptance letter for our paper that invited us to present at a conference embedded in the international comic con event," Salcedo said, alleging that she had to look up the venue in order to realize the scope of the event.
Dr. Salcedo, Carpenter and Tarango spoke on a panel to an audience between 50-70 people about their research.
"The overall experience was stunning" Salcedo said. "When we finished our presentation and opened up for comment, the first person up was a young man who rose to his feet, stared directly into the eyes of my student, Jose Luis Tarango, and said: "Thank you for your service, sir." I saw my student's eyes' glisten and I knew that we had come so many miles from West Texas, and completed so much research in order for him to stand up in a roomful of people in order to hear those words. In addition, veterans from various U.S. military, stood in line, following the presentation in order to talk with Tarango and ask about his proposed research. It got to the point that people were ushered out the door in order to speak more to our panel as another panel was taking their seats.”
Through the convention and their research, Dr. Salcedo says they’ve found that graphic novels are able to connect with an audience in a way they didn’t expect.
"We see before we read (unless one is visually impaired)." Salcedo said. "Why does a baby, or an adult respond to the most abstracted icon of a simple circle with two dots for eyes and a curved line for a smile--the smiley face, and sometimes smile back? Abstract art works.”
Salcedo says the students and research are seeking to spark a conversation with military members post-deployment, especially those challenged challenged with survivor's guilt, suicidal tendencies and PTSD.
It’s all a product of the UT Permian Basin Undergrad Research program.
"It is just incredible to see the confidence grow within students who are taking the podium for the first time. They can expound upon their research with the passion to convey to an audience the significance of university scholarship. UTPB's Undergraduate Research Program gives educators the chance to mentor students, lift them up and to assist them into placing their passion, knowledge and research into an arena where they will be heard by colleagues. It is a remarkable experience for students to dip their toes into scholarship and to be acknowledged, understood and appreciated for their endeavors, especially in a national or global context,” Salcedo said.
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