30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution

On February 1st, 1979 Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini returned to Iran after 15 years in exile. Though the Islamic Revolution began long before his return, the day Khomeini's plane landed in Tehran was a historic day for Iranians and the revolution.

This month two major news organizations mark the 30th anniversary of the revolution by airing related stories. They are worth checking out: Unwrapping Iran on National Public Radio and
Iran: After the Revolution on al-Jazeera English.

From the al-Jazeera series:

book group with John Avery

John Avery, ESOL Faculty, is going to lead a discussion of Persepolis on Tuesdays from 1 - 2pm starting on Feb. 3. The discussions will take place in RLC 141. Participants will be given free copies of the book. John says, "...there is no cost and no obligation for the students...It will be an opportunity for students to encounter a new format (the graphic novel) and a new culture through reading and discussions."

Please join us!

Persepolis in ENGL 180, Children's Literature

Thanks to Avis Adams, English Faculty, for inviting me to the final presentation of her English 180 students Ashley Werdal and Odie Deblume. Werdal and Deblume used Persepolis as the primary focus of their presentation, which required them to produce and share biographical information about Satrapi and a literary analysis of the text. For the last part of the presentation, Ashley and Odie guided the class through a free writing assignment that would be appropriate for young readers of the text.

It was truly an amazing experience to see the book used as a course text and to see students working with it so earnestly. It was clear that the book made an impression on Ashley and Odie, as they seemed to have thought deeply about it and its author.


This experience also reinforced in me the notion that Persepolis can be read and enjoyed by many audiences and age groups. Ashley and Odie imagined children engaging with the book. And of course, I witnessed college students engaging with it!

Thanks again to all. The photos here show Ashley and Odie's written materials from the presentation.

Azar Nafisi speaking at Seattle Public Library

Azar Nafisi, an Iranian author, is speaking at the Seattle Public Library central branch this Friday, January 16 at 7pm. Nafisi's work (especially "Reading Lolita in Tehran") is often compared to Satrapi's since both works chronicle Iranian life from the female perspective.

See more information on the event here. (Image above taken from spl site.)

Leonard Rifas visits GRCC

On November 7th, GRCC hosted an event titled "Just a comic book?" as part of our One Book program.

The speaker for the event was Leonard Rifas, who currently teaches a course on graphic novels and sequential art at Seattle Central Community College. He is a comics scholar who has been published in The International Journal of Comic Art, the Comics Journal, ImageText, and other publications. He is the Founder of EduComics, an educational comic book company and creator of Corporate CRIME Comics, All-Atomic Comics, Energy Comics, Food Comics, Tobacco Comics, AIDS News, The Big Picture: visualizing the global economy, and other titles.

The goal of the event was to further our awareness and understanding of graphic works and see how Persepolis fits in with its "peers." Rifas pointed out that Satrapi's work is unique in that it is the only graphic work addressing the Iran-Iraq war. He also discussed Satrapi's simple drawing style, similar to the depiction of the mice in Spiegelman's Maus, is a technique that helps us identify with the characters.

Rifas discussed many works and authors in his talk, so if you'd like to learn more on the topic, come by the campus library and check them out! Here are a few:
Barefoot Gen: a cartoon story of Hiroshima / Keiji Nakazawa
Epileptic / David B.
Maus I: a survivor's tale / Art Spiegelman
Persepolis: the story of a childhood / Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis 2: the story of a return / Marjane Satrapi
Understanding comics: the invisible art / Scott McCloud

One Book photos on flickr

The library and Communications and Program Marketing used the beautiful Fall Fling day to promote One Book. We took some fun photos of students, staff, and faculty. Check them out here. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30946992@N05/)

Art 109 uses Persepolis for inspiration

This summer GRCC's Art 109, Beginning Design class used Persepolis as an course text. The final project for the class asked students to read the text and use excerpts from the chapters “The Veil,” “Persepolis,” and “The Heroes” as inspiration to create a series of 4 postcards and 2 posters to convey an emotion depicted in these chapters.

Many thanks to Marilee Veneigas, the Art 109 instructor, for taking the plunge and being the first instructor to use One Book!!

Marilee also set up a beautiful display of all her students' work in the HSC building. Please go by and check it out!

(Student work appearing in this blog by GRCC student Joe Heithe.)