• Humanities Work

    The Applied Cartooning Lab headed up the hill to Hanover for The Leslie Center for the Humanities’ “Humanities Work” seminar series at Dartmouth College. On April 22, The Lab’s own James Sturm presented a behind-the-scenes view on collaborative projects from past years. Three days later, a seminar brought together the Leslie Center’s 2025 class of…

  • New Zine: Humanities Make Us Whole

    “Humanities Make Us Whole” is the Applied Cartooning Lab’s zine-based response to federal cuts to The National Endowment for the Humanities. The zine is free to download and print.

  • Visiting Artist Caroline Hu

    Last week, biologist, educator, and cartoonist Caroline Hu braved a snow storm to visit the Center for Cartoon Studies and gave an inspiring talk on teaching and learning science through comics. In both her own practice and her work with students, she facilitates direct collaborations with scientists who want to visually communicate their observations to…

  • Fellow Update: Comics Forging Communities

    At the end of October, I finished the artwork for the history comic project I’ve been working on for the past five years in partnership with Kumeyaay tribal historians. The Kumeyaay are the Native inhabitants of what we now call California and Baja California, Mexico, and are centered now on the city of San Diego.…

  • Scott McCloud and Eddie Ahn

    Two Non-fiction Cartoonists Come to Campus Cartoonists Scott McCloud and Eddie Ahn both visited CCS last week, bringing distinct insights on non-fiction comic making. McCloud, well-known for his seminal Understanding Comics, is a touchstone for the Applied Cartooning Lab. He met with CCS’s freshman class, discussing his work-in-progress book on visual communication, his preference for…

  • New Release: Art & Courage

    The Applied Cartooning Lab is pleased to announce its newest graphic guide, Art & Courage: A Guide to Sustaining a Creative Path. The comic book is based on Art & Fear, Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Since its release in 1993, that book has become an underground classic…

  • 2024-25 Applied Cartooning Fellow: John Swogger

    John Swogger was introduced to CCS by Al Wesolosky (’09). Like Al, John enjoyed a career in archeology before turning his attention to comics. We’re excited to have John on campus and help support him as he continues to deepen his cartooning practice. —James Sturm… I make comics about archaeology – about the excavations and…

  • Emily Bazelon and Erica Heilman in Conversation

    Each year, the Center for Cartoon Studies and Dartmouth College host the Will and Ann Eisner Lecture, a public presentation by artists and storytellers at the top of their craft. This year’s event involved a conversation between two storytellers working in journalism and podcasts, Erica Heilman (Rumblestrip) and Emily Bazelon (NYT Magazine, Slate Political Gabfest).…

  • The Vermont Statehouse Presents: Applied Cartooning

    The Center for Cartoon Studies was invited to present an evening of comics and applied cartooning for the Farmer’s Night series at the Vermont Statehouse. This is a weekly tradition that goes back over 100 years, bringing mid-week entertainment to lawmakers during the legislative session. Michelle Ollie, cofounder and president of CCS, and cartoonist Dan…

  • The Humanities and Mass Incarceration 

    In March, the Applied Cartooning Lab was invited as a community partner (thank you, VT Humanities) to attend a special national convening, Inside & Out: The Humanities and Mass Incarceration. The Lab is currently developing a public education campaign about mass incarceration, so this was an ideal opportunity to deepen our understanding of the subject.…