This Roundtable will discuss comics and graphic narrative in research and its dissemination (Lunch Provided)

Join Damon Herd (Dundee); Jorge Català-Carrasco (Newcastle) Jesús Sanjurjo (Strathclyde) and Rhiannon McGlade (Strathclyde) for an open-forum discussion exploring the use of comics for disseminating research.

All welcome and lunch provided!

About the panel:

Dr Damon Herd is a Lecturer in Communication Design at the University of Dundee. He is an artist, researcher, and comics maker with a PhD in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. His main research area is life narratives told in the comics medium, with a particular interest in British comics, and the games authors play with truth. Damon is the founder and organiser of DeeCAP (Dundee Comics/Art/Performance). He is a member of the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies at University of Dundee and an associate member of CoRH! - The Comics Research Hub at University of the Arts London (UAL). He was previously Coordinator of Dundee Comics Creative Space and INK POT comics studio, where he worked on several publications in the University of Dundee’s Public Information Comics research project.Dr Jorge Català-Carrasco is Reader in Spanish Cultural History at the University of Newcastle and has published widely on comics in Spain and Latin America. His research has played a key role in advancing the understanding of graphic narrative as a critical tool to examine historical memory, political crises, and cultural identity throughout the Spanish-speaking world.Working across Humanities and STEM, Jorge is a management committee member and work group leader of the COST Action, COsMICs (2025-2029), which combines natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to understand how comics can communicate scientific ideas, spark public dialogue, and support education. Dr Jesús Sanjurjo is a Lecturer and Chancellor’s Fellow in Atlantic World History at the University of Strathclyde. His research explores how enslavement, human trafficking and carceral institutions shaped racial and class hierarchies across the Atlantic, and how these histories continue to inform debates on systemic racism today.Jesús recently collaborated with Yaimara Izaguirre and comic artist Alfonso Zapico to produce the graphic narrative, Punishing Audacity: Sentencing and Silencing Candelario Villafaña [English version]/ Castigo a la osadía: Condena y olvido de Candelario Villafaña [Spanish version] (2026, Glasgow: USP). To accompany the comic, Jesús and colleagues also developed a teacher’s guide and activity workbook for secondary educators. Dr Rhiannon McGlade is Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at the University of Strathclyde. Rhiannon’s research and publications have broadly engaged Spanish and Catalan cultures, history and politics, with a focus on comics, graphic novels, the satirical press and humour. Her current book project, (In)Visible Ink: Visual Print Media and Women in Spain’s Transition to Democracy (1968–1993), explores the role of comics in gender and sexual-identity politics during Spain’s dictatorship and democracy.

This Comics and Research Dissemination roundtable forms part of the project, Strathclyde Stories: Visualising the Invisible World of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Innovation (PI Dr Rhiannon McGlade), funded by the University of Strathclyde’s Collaborative Cultures Development Fund.

Strathclyde Stories seeks to use comics and visual storytelling to capture and share stories of the people (technicians, professional services staff, research support teams, doctoral researchers, librarians, communications professionals, administrators, teaching staff and researchers) who undertake research and catalyse knowledge exchange and innovation across the University.

While we have your attention:

Join us for our follow-on event on Wednesday 23 September, featuring live-drawing artist Jules Scheele!

See below for details.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1998964924901?aff=oddtdtcreator

Description supplied by the event organiser.