JAN 103 - Comic Books & Existenz

Existenz, says the philosopher Bernard Lonergan, is being oneself. It is, he says, “a becoming aware, a growth in self-consciousness, a heightening of one’s self-appropriation.” This course is a philosophical study of variations of Existenz through the medium of comic books and graphic novels and the thought of the theologian and philosopher, Bernard Lonergan. It presents students with various modes of art and narratives by which to reflect on the major themes of the 20th century thinker, Lonergan, and his description of being a self in the world. The course will emphasize theological, philosophical, artistic, and de-colonial methods of reflection, and will contain both well-known comic book subjects and lesser-known characters, authors, and artists. Students will discuss human cognition, human history, human freedom, and the world mediated by meaning, refracted through comics stories, class discussion, and self-reflection papers. 
Reading List:
Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death (excerpts)
Bernard Lonergan, Collection
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin/White Masks (excerpts)
Marjorie Liu, Monstress vol. 1
James Tynion, Wynd, vol. 1
Ram V, These Savage Shores
Various, Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories
Kieron Gillen, Once & Future, vol. 1
Brown & Walker, Bitter Root, vol. 1
James Tynion, Something is Killing the Children, vol. 1

Instructor(s): Anne Carpenter
Email:  ac42@stmarys-ca.edu

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisites:  None
Course Fee:  25
 

Credits: 1