K-State Cultural Studies Conference to focus on visual culture

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Source: Phillip Marzluf, 785-532-2156, marzluf@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Tina Deines, 785-532-6415

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

K-STATE CULTURAL STUDIES CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON VISUAL CULTURE

MANHATTAN -- Scrapbooks and comic books are just two of the visual artifacts that will be examined at this year's Cultural Studies Conference at Kansas State University.

At the March 10-12 conference, three keynote speakers and other experts will examine how images and other visual artifacts are conceived as cultural objects. The speakers will reflect on how these images are impacted by political, social, economic and institutional forces.

Phillip Marzluf, assistant professor of English, said the conference, "Visual Culture," will give attendees from diverse fields such as anthropology, English and computer science a good glimpse of what visual culture is.

"It's a good way for people from many different departments to come together and sort of see an issue such as visual culture from different perspectives," Marzluf said.

Tom Huck will present at 8 p.m. March 10, in the K-State Student Union Ballroom. He carves woodcuts that humorously describe small towns, like those in southeast Missouri. His woodcut prints are found in many public and private collections, including the St. Louis Art Museum, the New York Public Library and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Scott McCloud will talk about the design challenges facing online comics at 8 p.m. March 11, in Kedzie Hall Room 106. McCloud is the author of the books, "Understanding Comics" and "Reinventing Comics." His analysis of comics has been praised by comic strip artists Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) and Alan Moore (Watchmen).

"McCloud is seen as one of the foremost experts on the medium of comics," Marzluf said.

Charles Hatfield will speak about underground comics at 10:30 a.m. March 12, in the K-State Student Union Big 12 Room. He is the author of "Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature," and specializes in comics, word and image studies and children's literature.

In addition to the keynote speakers, about 80 professors from a variety of disciplines will also present at the conference. Media addressed will include film, graphic novels, children's book illustrations, photography, scrapbooks, super-hero comic books and documentary films. Issues addressed will include George Bush's savior image, how chess is depicted in film, how images represent national identity and women, and American masculinity codes in pulp magazines.

All keynote presentations are free and open to the public. The cost to attend the entire conference is $20 for graduate students (for both K-State graduate students and graduate students from other universities), professors, alumni and other K-State affiliates. Interested undergraduates may attend free. The cost for those unaffiliated with K-State is $50.

Attendees may register at the conference. Pre-registration for the conference can be done online at http://www.k-state.edu/english/symposium/index.html