St Mary’s Professor Receives Funding for Graphic Justice Symposium

Dr Thomas Giddens, Lecturer in Law at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, has received funding from the Socio-Legal Studies Association for a symposium on ‘graphic justice’ which is to be held on 11^th September. The symposium has been organised as part of a research alliance that Dr Giddens is developing called Graphic Justice. It is an international and interdisciplinary research alliance for the exploration of the interaction between all kinds of graphic fiction and the multiple dimensions of law and justice. Dr Giddens said, “Comics have received an increased level of academic attention in recent years, with dedicated journals and conferences taking place around the world. Yet the significance of comics with respect to the concerns of law and justice has received little critical attention. As a development of existing disciplinary fields such as law and popular culture, law and literature, and legal aesthetics, Graphic Justice, is a research alliance aimed at increasing engagement with this under-explored disciplinary crossover. “With Anglophone comics, Francophone bandes dessinées, and Japanese manga, graphic storytelling represents an expanding dimension of today’s global popular culture and is a richly innovative form of expression. From the overt law and order focus of many mainstream narratives and comics-inspired blockbuster movies, such as The Dark Knight and Judge Dread, to the more nuanced examinations of the human condition in graphic works like Maus, Signal to Noise, and Appleseed; the blurring of text and image in the very medium itself, to representations of law, justice, and legal systems on the surface of its pages: comics and graphic fiction are rife with themes relevant to law and justice.” Dr Giddens received the funding as part of an annual seminar competition from the Socio-Legal Studies Association, which aims to assist innovative and inclusive projects in the socio-legal field. The symposium, which is to be held at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill campus later this year, will enable researchers, practitioners and other interested parties from around the world to express and discuss issues relating to the intersection of comics with law and justice. Topics for discussion on the day include Minority Rights and Racial Discrimination in Graphic Novels, Themes of Justice in Superhero Comic Book Stories, and Graphic Reporting: Human Rights Violations through the Lens of Graphic Novels. The grant is one of three recently awarded to University College academics after Prof Chris Keith was awarded a British Academy Grant for his work in the reception of the Jesus tradition in the first three centuries, and Dr Stephen Bullivant who received funding for a research piece on people leaving the Catholic Church. For more information about the symposium please visit the website or email thomas.giddens@stmarys.ac.uk