The Science and Comics Initiative

The University of Oregon Science and Comics Initiative unites two growing areas at the University of Oregon: Comics & Cartoon Studies and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). This program encourages interdisciplinary research and spurs curriculum development. We bring together faculty, students, and researchers from numerous departments, programs, and campus facilities to produce scholarship that utilizes both humanistic and scientific research practices.

Professors Tien-Tien Yu (Physics) and Kate Kelp-Stebbins (Comics and Cartoon Studies) began the initiative with a fellowship project in Spring 2020, pairing students from Comics Studies with Professors in Physics and Neuroscience to produce graphic narratives illustrating and explaining UO faculty members’ scientific research. Following the successful completion of the first stage of the Science and Comics initiative in Summer 2020, the program is now run by Luca Mazzucato (Institute of Neuroscience) and Kate Kelp-Stebbins. The program is expanding with applications across additional fields.

Goals include: the establishment of cross-campus workshops devoted to communicating scientific research through comics and sequential art; a course or courses in which Comics Studies students work alongside STEM students to produce compelling and visually engaging research descriptions; a research publication compiling the graphic narratives produced by Comics Studies/STEM students; gallery and museum shows in which student work is displayed for a public audience.

To learn more about the initiative and see a digital exhibit of the completed comics please visit the Science and Comics Initiative's website.