The campus community is invited to stop by and view more than 200 student-drawn canvas storyboards depicting current or past events that deeply impacted society from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday (Oct. 25) in Honors Hall.
As part of their Introduction to Honors course this fall, first-year Honors College students read, discussed and completed assignments related to “Maus,” this year’s WVU Campus Read.
Recounting chilling experiences during the Holocaust, the graphic novel written by Art Spiegelman offers important opportunities to discuss themes of human rights abuses, race and racism, morality and ethics, generational trauma, guilt and family.
For the final in-class assignment on the novel, each section of HONR 102 was challenged to reflect on and discuss the topics of generational trauma and portray them through art.
“It was fascinating to see how creative our students were with this project,” Ashley Watts, program director for the Honors College First-Year Experience, said. “Some common themes that emerged were the COVID-19 pandemic, alcoholism and drug addiction, civil rights, women’s rights, gun violence and generational trauma of families whose loved ones were injured working in the coal mines.”
Honors College staff members will judge the storyboards on creativity, storytelling and relevance to “Maus.” Students who created the top three selected canvases will win a prize for their HONR 102 sections.