Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Syracuse University Humanities Center and the Burton Blatt Institute Host ‘‘Cripping’ Graphic Medicine: Psychiatric Disability, ‘Crip’ Culture and the Humanities’

Tuesday, October 22, 2019, By Robert Conrad
Share
Burton Blatt InstituteOffice of Interdisciplinary Programs and OutreachSyracuse University Humanities Center
female headshot

Elizabeth J. Donaldson, professor of English and interim associate dean for curriculum and student success at the New York Institute of Technology.

Syracuse University’s Humanities Center and the Burton Blatt Institute’s (BBI) Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach are hosting the two-part Syracuse Symposium, “‘Cripping’ Graphic Medicine: Psychiatric Disability, ‘Crip’ Culture and the Humanities.” Elizabeth J. Donaldson, professor of English and interim associate dean for curriculum and student success at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), will give a public lecture on these topics on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 4 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, Professor Donaldson will follow up her lecture by leading “Drawing Out the Public Sphere: A Workshop on ‘Cripping’ Graphic Medicine” starting at 10 a.m. in 304 Tolley Humanities Building.

This symposium, in the emerging cross-disciplinary field of graphic medicine, engages Syracuse University’s and SUNY Upstate Medical University’s constituents in collaboration by drawing linkages across disability studies and the health humanities. Both events are free and open to the public. Community members are encouraged to attend. An RSVP is not needed for the lecture; please RSVP to Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri for workshop participation (information follows).

The Consortium for Culture and Medicine—involving Le Moyne College, Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University—and the Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences are co-sponsors of the events.

Today, graphic memoirs are both popular and acclaimed: for example, Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” (2006) is taught in college courses and has been adapted into an award-winning Broadway musical. Yet, when Justin Green published his 40-page autobiographical comic, “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary,” in 1972, he was breaking new ground and inventing a new form. By reading Binky Brown as a disability memoir, Donaldson argues that psychiatric disability and the empathetic treatment of mental health issues are foundational to this genre. Contemporary graphic memoirs of psychiatric disability are both a legacy of Green’s innovative confessional comics and an extension of his work. For students of disability studies, these graphic texts challenge stereotypes of mental illness and offer important and unique insights into the experiences of people living with madness and psychiatric disability.

“These Syracuse Symposium events will address issues of power in the silencing of disability and the ‘voices’ of those who experience barriers in healthcare and healthcare education and practice,” said Diane Wiener, research professor and associate director of interdisciplinary programs and outreach for BBI. “The event will also address how disabled people’s ‘voices’ are sometimes silenced in graphic medicine, the comics industry and beyond, thus demonstrating why adaptations are necessary to (re)fashion a primarily visual medium so that it is consistently accessible to a spectrum of creators and audiences.”

A second lecture and workshop in this series will be held in Spring 2020 with MK Czerwiec, a.k.a. Comic Nurse.

Event Details

Tuesday, Oct. 29: ‘Cripping’ Graphic Medicine: Psychiatric Disability, ‘Crip’ Culture and the Health Humanities
Public lecture by NYIT Professor Elizabeth J. Donaldson
4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Light refreshments will be served.

Wednesday, Oct. 30: Drawing Out the Public Sphere: A Workshop on ‘Cripping’ Graphic Medicine
Workshop led by NYIT Professor Elizabeth J. Donaldson
10 a.m.-noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Please call 315.443.2156 or email razubal@law.syr.edu to RSVP for this workshop.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided during the lecture and workshop. For other accommodations, contact Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri at 315.443.2156 or razubal@law.syr.edu.

  • Author

Robert Conrad

  • Recent
  • Message from Chancellor Kent Syverud
    Tuesday, April 20, 2021, By News Staff
  • Make the Most of Your Wellness Day | Public Health Reminders
    Tuesday, April 20, 2021, By News Staff
  • Falk Professor Advocates for Including Autistic Adults in Research That Shapes Their World
    Monday, April 19, 2021, By Matt Michael
  • Campus Resources Available for Faculty, Staff and Students
    Monday, April 19, 2021, By News Staff
  • Call to Volunteer: Give Back at The Big Event
    Monday, April 19, 2021, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Message from Chancellor Kent Syverud

Dear Members of the Syracuse University Community: The decision made by a Minneapolis jury today brings the trial of Derek Chauvin to a close. Still, no single verdict can take away the pain and suffering felt across this country after…

Make the Most of Your Wellness Day | Public Health Reminders

Dear Students and Families: With the second Wellness Day approaching tomorrow, I hope you are looking forward to another day of recharging and practicing self-care. We are once again offering a full schedule of activities that promote well-being and engagement,…

Campus Resources Available for Faculty, Staff and Students

The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd is reaching its final phase, with jury deliberations to begin early this week. Coverage of the trial and constant reports of racially motivated violence weigh…

Call to Volunteer: Give Back at The Big Event

Join us for Syracuse University’s largest student-run day of community service, The Big Event, an annual opportunity for students to support local nonprofit organizations within the city of Syracuse. The Big Event will be hosted on Saturday, May 1, from…

Dining Centers to Resume In-Person Dining Monday, April 19, at 11 a.m.

Dear Students, Families, Faculty and Staff: With more and more community members receiving COVID-19 vaccinations and as infection rates on our campus gradually decline, Syracuse University is taking action to expand indoor, in-person dining options. Beginning at 11 a.m. on…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.