Mississippi State University libraries hosted a panel discussion on the use of graphic novels for educational purposes. The panel was held Oct. 3 at 5:30 p.m. as part of the library’s Banned Books Week initiative.
The panel speakers each belonged to various educational departments at MSU. Speakers answered questions from the audience and explained why students should have access to graphic novels in academic settings.
Alexandra Hui is an associate professor in the MSU Department of History. Hui said that she utilizes graphic novels in her classroom only when it is necessary to help a student learn about a subject.
“I don’t actually use graphic novels very much in my teachings or my research,” Hui said. “But I do use one very important one.”
Hui said that the one graphic novel she uses is Art Spiegelman’s highly controversial and frequently banned “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” which she uses to help teach students about the Holocaust.
According to Hui, as horrific as the subject may be, the ability to visualize the horrors of the Holocaust can help students understand and realize the historical importance of the subject.
Hui said that through “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” her students are not just exposed to the story of a Holocaust survivor, but are also exposed to the real psychological damages and generational trauma that arose from the victim’s experiences.
Ben Harvey is an associate professor in the MSU Department of Art. Harvey offered his own sentiments on the use of graphic novels in the classroom, specifically “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale.”
“The type of Holocaust literature that is given to our kids in school actually doesn’t really give that much about the Holocaust experience itself,” Harvey said.
Harvey described how Spiegelman’s use of mice for the characters in the graphic novel helps readers to identify characters and empathize with the struggles, fears and traumas of the victims.
“So, the very clever concept that Spiegelman uses, cats and mice and so on, actually, when you’re reading it, you just see them as human beings,” Harvey said. “The mice, after all, are not very mouse-like. They don’t have tails, for example. So you’re quickly looking through the animal designs to the human suffering.”
Beth Downey, a librarian at the Mitchell Memorial Library, stated that the impact of graphic novels goes far beyond simply teaching students in school. Downey stated that these books can also help children to understand things in their own lives.
“What these books do, why people are scared of them, is because sometimes they show us, or they show a child something that they don’t know how to say yet, or they don’t know how to express yet,” Downey said.
Downey said that by being introduced to difficult, adult topics, children and teenagers can learn to better express how they feel. Downey referred to a young girl’s experience with a book about sex education to express that in some cases, access to these topics can save a child’s life.
“It’s written towards older children and young adults,” Downey said. “A girl had to check it out from the library, and she found the chapter on child sexual abuse. The girl ran to her mother, said ‘Mom, this is me.’ It turned out that her father had been abusing her. And when he was convicted, the judge said there were two heroes in this story. It was the girl who told the truth and whoever wrote this book.”
MSU libraries hosted several events to acknowledge Banned Books Week from Oct. 3 to Oct. 7. Although Banned Books Week has come to an end, the discussion of banned books and the defense of their place in academia continues.