Little Zines, Big Ideas (Grades 7-8)

Whatcha mean, what’s a zine?* A zine (pronounced ‘zeen’) is a homemade, self-published mini-magazine. Containing both text and image, either found or forged, a zine can be anything: a comic, a how-to guide, a rant, a diary entry, a list, a letter, a story, an interview, an article, even a piece of art. It can be personal or political, simple or complicated, silly or serious, private or shared.  Anyone and everyone can make one-including you!

Zine-making is fundamentally about self-expression: you control the content, structure, and distribution of your message. Though this course will cover the history and philosophy of zine-making, you will ultimately learn the basics of articulating your own voice. What is important or interesting to you? How would it feel to share it? How and for whom would you craft it? By the end, you will have several tools – and zines! – to save and share.

*Title of a seminal text on zine making & history (Todd & Watson, Whatcha mean, what’s a zine?: the art of making zines and mini comics, 2006).