The “Transformative Learning through Zine Making” HRI research cluster formed during the 2019-2020 academic year with the purpose of exploring zines as a pedagogical tool to delve into concepts such as visual literacy, multimodal communication, and the dynamics surrounding alternative media, hierarchical power structures, and expertise. Cluster members met in fall 2019 and part of spring 2020 to discuss aspects of zine based assignments, including the history and context of zines, design methods and tools, materials and formats, and assessment. While we were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this page serves as a record of the cluster and a resource for further exploration.
What is a zine? Zines are non-commercial, independent, and self-made/DIY works much like pamphlets, booklets, or magazines.
Why zines? Aside from being fun to create and read, zines are an important pedagogical tool and tool for research dissemination. They are primary sources, they can highlight marginalized and oppressed voices that are often missing from traditional scholarly resources, they can offer a variety of ways to present information (i.e. illustration, collage, photographs), and they are an informal and accessible way of sharing stories and communicating ideas to those in other disciplines or outside of academia. Chelsea Lonsdale describes some of the advantages of zines as a pedagogical tool:
Zines can offer students a sense of ownership that other types of writing, especially classroom writing, do not provide. Zines also introduce students to multimodal, or multigenre composing, within a single document. Including zines as part of the curriculum also models for students a variety of vehicles for meaning-making, and can provide a more broad spectrum of identities and experiences with which students can relate. These benefits challenge the status quo in terms of authority, revealing the process by which a writer attains credibility on a particular topic.
We encourage you to attend our capstone event and explore the examples and resources linked on this site for further information. Please feel welcome to connect with us as well!