[featured image credit: Justin Wasson]

Did you just finish #SuperMOOC? If so, congratulations! You are among a special group of geeks!

In any case, one of the coolest geek events is concluding this week. A few months ago—like a tweet heard around the world—more than 7,000 geeks huddled around computers and smartphones for a class that took comics out of the convention, combined them with college smarts, and added a hefty dose of social media. The result: Learning Gender Through Comic Books, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

Totally free and available to anyone anywhere with an internet connection, the course, offered by Ball State through Canvas Network, used comics and their creators to teach gender issues that affect the whole society. The conversation spilled over to Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Google+, and just about every other place people connect.

It also featured streaming interviews with the comic industry’s biggest names such as Terry Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, Mark Waid, Brian Snyder and Felicia Day. In other words, it was like buying the VIP ticket at Comic Con to see your favorite people, just without the soul-crushing credit card bill.

My personal experience was wonderful. I had late-night conversations on Twitter with people from Germany, Canada, Scotland and Australia (among others!) about pulp characters and gender. I engaged in debates in the discussion forum. I live-tweeted interviews. And it was easy to find new friends just by searching the hashtag #SuperMOOC on Twitter.

Nerd Caliber caught up with the professor who designed the course, Christina “Christy” Blanch, M.A., doctoral assistant, who will receive her doctorate in Educational Studies from Ball State this year.

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Nerd Caliber: Why did you create a class to teach about gender through comics? And why now?

Christy Blanch: I created this class for a class. It was a project for a women and education class that after a series of events, led me to teach this class. I love using comic books to teach everything. I used The Walking Dead and Y: The Last Man to teach culture change in

anthropology. I used Dr. Strange to teach about magic in different cultures. There are so many possibilities. Why now? Because the powers that be finally let me!

NC: What prompted you and Ball State to offer it as a MOOC?

CB: Ball State approached me and asked me to teach an online course. At the time, I didn’t know it was to be a MOOC. When I learned that, it changed everything due to scale. It became really a completely different class. A MOOC is not simply an online class that you would offer at a college that it put in a different format. It’s very different.

NC:What did you learn from the class and the students?

CB: I learned that #SuperMOOC students are the best. These students did not have to participate, they didn’t have to discuss, they didn’t have to do the assignments, but they did. It showed me that people want to learn, they want to be engaged, and there is a place for this type of class. I was so inspired by these students. I learned what I want to do. And I can’t thank the SuperMOOCers enough for that.

NC: What do you hope they took away from the experience?

CB: I hope they learned several things. I hope they understand that gender and all the aspects of it are hard to define yet it shapes our lives every day. I want them to understand that there is value different methods of learning. Learning isn’t confined to a classroom. It’s all around us if we take advantage of it. Don’t think that a comic book can’t be used in education because it’s popular culture. Shakespeare was also popular culture at one time, before it became literature. Also, I want them to understand the power of popular culture and how it influences us without us even knowing. If we realized that, we can be educated consumers. Finally, I want to them realize that learning can be fun. You can learn and enjoy it.

NC: What’s the next step? Will there be a similar class as an offshoot?

CB: I have no idea. I would love to offer the class again. I also have tons of other ideas for more MOOCs. This was my first one I have created and taught and I have learned so much and I have so many more ideas, that I would feel cheated if I didn’t get to continue. I want to offer classes on the history of comics, ethnicity and race through comics, disability through comics, LGBT comics, animals and comics—there are so many ideas! And coming from an anthropology background, we have to know a lot about a lot, so again, the possibilities are endless. How to teach with comics, religion and comics, politics and comics, etc.

NC: The SuperMOOC hashtag on Twitter was certainly a lively conversation. Did it surprise you that so many students connected there and began to creatively collaborate?

CB: Yes. And I loved it. We had Facebook conversations, Reddit groups, Goodread groups, so many different groups. I love Twitter, and I think it is a great education tool. I think this proved that it works. It really did get people connected. And created a community. Which can I add, I loved. That was a big goal of mine for the class—to create a community.

NC: Now a few fun questions: How do you define nerd versus geek?

CB: I use them interchangeably, but I also associate geek more with being super intelligent about something and a nerd about being more obsessed with something popular culture. So, like math geek and Star Wars nerd. I actually did a paper on this! So, hmm, I’m not sure what that would make me.

NC: If you could change one thing about geek culture what would it be?

CB: I would stop all this silly gender nonsense. Just have fun with it. Enjoy the camaraderie.

NC: Who shot first: Han or Greedo?

CB: Um, that’s not a question. The only one that shot was Han. And it was in Star Wars.

NC: Let’s play a game of either/or. You ultimately don’t have to pick one, but I’d love to hear

your thoughts: Star Wars vs. Star Trek?

CB: Both. I love both. But if there was a lightsaber/phaser to my head, I would have to choose Star Wars because it changed my entire life.

NC: Old Battlestar Galactica versus New Battlestar Galactica?

CB: See, that’s hard, too! I LOVE the old BSG, but I also love the new one. So, again both. However, again, if I had to choose, probably new because I tried rewatching some of the old ones again, and some of it doesn’t hold up so well.

NC: Dawn of the Dead vs. Day of the Dead?

CB: Shaun of the Dead.

NC: Dawn of the Dead vs. Shaun of the Dead?

CB: Shaun of the Dead.

Daleks vs. Cybermen?

CB: Shaun of the Dead. Kidding. Daleks by a long shot. I love the Cybermen, too, but Nicolas Briggs is awesome, and I like Daleks. I have one in my office. When I look at it I feel it is saying “pro-cras-ti-nate.”

Oh did you ask what is the best class ever? That would be the Gender through Comic Books SuperMOOC because it has the best students ever!

Thank you!

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Connect with Christy Blanch:

http://www.teachingwithcomics.com

http://facebook.com/clblanch

Tweets by christyblanch