Program Description
Event Details
Explore the role comics play in promoting education and literacy with the 7th Annual Comic Conference for Educators & Librarians (CCEL), hosted by San Diego Public Library and Comic-Con International®. Comic enthusiasts are invited to learn new ways to incorporate comics and other popular arts into their professional work and promote comics and graphic novels as powerful mediums for learning. Geek out about higher education! From boosting college students socially and academically, comics and nerd culture are of greater value than most realize.
Join us for this FREE in-person conference that will be held at the San Diego Public Library during Comic-Con 2022 beginning on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 and running through Sunday, July 24, 2022.
These panels will be presented in the 8th floor Helen Price Reading Room at San Diego Central Library.
CCEL is free to attend, but space is limited and registration is required for each day. Comic-Con badge-holders with valid single same-day or four-day badges are welcome to attend and are not required to register. Please note, Comic-Con COVID-19 vaccine verification or proof of a negative COVID-19 test is required to attend. See more information here: https://www.comic-con.org/cci/covid-19-faq
=====Programming Schedule=====
10:00 - 11:00 a.m. | Slaying Real Monsters and Building Communities Through Role-Playing Games
Through TTRPGS, we have the power to build supportive communities, explore mental health issues in a secure environment, and raise awareness (and funds) for important charities and causes. Panelists Andrew J. Alandy (actor/streamer), Utahime Cosplay (cosplayer/streamer), Jade Valkyrie (cosplayer/streamer), and Sam Sterling (performer/streamer) discuss strategies, tech, safety tools, therapeutic and educational applications, and continuing to build all-inclusive, welcoming TTRPG spaces. Moderated by Dan Wood (Creators Assemble, comics librarian).
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | GeekED: Nerds Make School Cool
For educators and students alike, teaching, learning, and building community on campus can be enhanced by infusing nerdy passions into the environment. From designing programs and events to building bridges and creating new programs, this panel focuses on strategies using geek culture and personal passions to make work and learning more fun, inclusive, and impactful. College educators Jeremy Parker (UCSC), Sarah Molitoris (UCLA), Brian MacDonald (UCLA), and Bruin Gaming president, student Lauren Chen (UCLA) join moderator Alex Belisario (UC Santa Cruz).
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. | GeekED: Civil War or Civil Conversation?
Fandom is more diverse than ever before, and yet it is also more divided. Social media attacks on actors of color, controversy around race and gender-switching of fictional characters, and emerging issues related to community, inclusion, and mental health have created strong responses from various perspectives. College educators Jada Anderson (University of Maryland, College Park), Sunny Yen (UCLA), David Surratt (University of Oklahoma), an psychologist Dr. Christine Catipon (UC Irvine) explore how fandom can create the necessary frameworks for difficult but necessary conversations. Moderated by Emily Sandoval (USC).
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. | GeekED: Career Advice for College Geeks
College does not typically come with a perfect roadmap. Geeky passions, however, can serve as a compass to navigate the confusion, difficulty, and doubt toward opportunity and fulfillment. David Surratt (University of Oklahoma), Viviana Siles-Osejo (internship & early career programs specialist, Universal Studios Hollywood), and student Isabel Wong (UCLA) share their stories of how they leveraged geeky passions to find campus and career opportunities and will offer advice for attendees on how they can do the same. Moderated by Kevin Kawakami (UCLA).
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. | GeekED: Fandom, Followers, and Friendship: The Power of Parasocial Relationships
Our connections with fictional and media characters have power over us that we don’t always realize. These parasocial relationships are often as powerful as real-life relationships. During the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many college students, staff, and faculty leaned on these relationships. Moderator Alfred Day (UC Berkeley) will share his doctoral research on the power of parasocial relationships on college campuses and will join psychologist Dr. Brent Crandal (UC San Diego), and student Karlinna Sanchez (UCLA) to discuss the ways in which parasocial relationships have impacted community and learning on campuses.