Comic-Con 2014

Graphic novels are often associated with violence and aggression. They can, however, be used to help kids gain a greater understanding of the often violent world around them, and they can often be used to defuse anger. Finally, they can be used to teach history, social studies, and social organization. This panel of educators, authors, and artists will show you how. They'll discuss the intertwining history of comics, violence, and censorship and provide teachers with classroom tools to integrate incredible graphic novels within language arts, social studies and science, effectively meeting Common Core State Standards while addressing ever-present resistance to the graphic text artform. Panelists include Meryl Jaffe, Betsy Gomez, Matt Holm, and Jennifer L. Holm.

How did a pioneering neuroscientist become one of the 20th century's most notorious censors? In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published the popular book Seduction of the Innocent, which inspired such moral panic that comics were placed on trial by the U.S. Senate. Wertham's efforts, although presented as science, were actually carefully manipulated to discredit the medium. The results nearly destroyed the comics artform in the United States. Carol Tilley, the professor whose recent research helped debunk Wertham once and for all, will take you back in time, behind the scenes, as she shares some of the little-known stories of Dr. Wertham's war on comics.