In Spring 2020, I taught a course on “Playful Literature and Literary Games,” with the intention being that students would spend the first half of class analyzing and critically studying games & literature, and then spend the last half of the semester creating their own zines that critically engaged with the course themes.
On March 12th, 2020, Michigan State University went online for the rest of the semester. I had just seen my students the day before, warned them we might be going online. We spent that class having a frank and earnest conversation about what practices they most appreciated in their online classes (and which practices they hated), how we could adapt our lively and engaging conversations to the digital realm, and what I could do to make the transition more seamless for them.
I spent the next 48 hours upending our entire course, transforming everything for the digital realm and for a more streamlined end of the semester, including our zine project.
And my students nailed their zines.
These are some of the best samples.
(Please be patient, as my plug-in to display these zines may take a little while to load. Thank you!)