Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Comic book heroes and black girls


We coordinated a session on comic book heroes during our fall Language Arts & Leadership Conference. The session included a small display on heroes--Storm, Spectrum, Oracle, and Riri Williams. The purpose was to expose the students to heroic characters and highlight the science and technology behind their powers.

Rae'Jean Spears facilitated the activities, with assistance from a group of undergraduate volunteers. The high school students observed the display panels on comic book heroes, and talked about which characters they would be interested in taking on if given the chance.

Rae'Jean Spears facilitates discussion with students about comic book characters


Several of the students mentioned their interest in Storm. Her ability to fly, they said, was especially appealing. Some of the girls also highlighted Riri Williams, noting that her engineering knowledge and ability to attend M.I.T. at an early age were quite impressive.

One of my colleagues Matthew Johnson, Curriculum Specialist at the STEM Center at SIUE, helped me produce the panels on the superheroes by providing observations concerning the science and technology behind some of the superpowers presented in the panels.

Related:
The Language Arts & Leadership Conference, Fall 2017

No comments: