We recently had the chance to catch up with Dr. Denise Fernandes (Assistant Professor of Politics at Whitman College) about her experience teaching with zines in her introduction to environmental racism class. Last year, her students produced a series of zines on settler colonialism and environmental racism in the US Pacific Northwest. Below is our conversation with Denise, along with the zines her students created for the course. The interview has been lightly edited.
Interview
GEOZONe: What inspired you to bring zines into your classroom?
Denise Fernandes: The Introduction to Environmental Racism class is a Politics 101 class at Whitman College (Walla Walla, Washington) where we critically engage with the idea of “environmentalism” as a political object. Within complex social, economic, and cultural realities, racism manifests itself in different shapes and forms globally. I set up the assignments in such a way that students learn how to engage with both academic and public audiences in their future career paths. I have taught this course multiple times at the University of Colorado, Boulder where my students have created Instagram pages and/or made posters to exhibit in public spaces. (You can check the CU Boulder students creations here!)
I was thinking about a new public facing assignment for this class at Whitman to communicate this complex concept of “environmental racism” to a non-academic audience, and I remembered a conversation with a good friend on “folding paper” and making zines popular again. I was also thinking about ways in which oppressed communities and groups have communicated environmental conflict and harm, and zines are on top of the list. It was also the same time that many environmental activists were using zines to talk about Cop City Atlanta. And I was like “why not teach the students how to make zines in a 101 class? What could be more fun and public-facing than zines?”
I had been collecting zines from different places, and I went back to my zine folder and started designing the assignment for the class. I also visited the Denver Zine Library that has this massive collection of physical zines from all over the world. And there I met Erin Pack, the zine librarian, and we decided to do a virtual lecture where Erin would teach my students the history of zines and how to make them.
The final group assignment required students to go to the Whitman College archives, and work in groups to collect historical artifacts that they could use in the zines to better communicate the concept of settler colonialism and its relation to environmental racism in Walla Walla. The archivist and I selected certain themes that would fit the course description, and the groups could select the topics within the given descriptions.
GZ: How did the students respond to this assignment? Were they enthusiastic? Uncertain? Did they need any support in completing the project?
DF: It was an interesting experience for me as an instructor to observe 30 students trying to wrap their head around a “non-conventional” college assignment. One group absolutely loved the thought of folding paper and using colors and all types of scrap material to work with. They spent hours in the library and in their living rooms/dorms just folding paper and drawing. At the end of the process, they noted that zines are a crucial part of a liberal arts education, and this project gave them the opportunity to learn something new and explore different avenues besides the traditional essay writing assignment. These students really bonded well with their peers (and I think some of them have become good friends) over zine making.
Another group was confused about such an assignment in college. They have been told by different people that college is only about dense research papers and essays. So, they came into this class with “why are we doing something different and with paper?!” But this group was willing to learn, and they did enjoy the process of making the zine itself. There were some silent students in this particular group, and I was surprised to find out that they happened to be really good artists who took zine making as an opportunity to communicate their thoughts and ideas.
A third group, which was a small number of students, were resistant to the idea of anything ‘creative.’ They feared drawing, paper, and colors or even working in groups (this particular assignment is a group one). They were really concerned about this assignment not being perfect and impacting their GPA. For most of the class, it took a lot of effort on my part to tell them that “zines are not meant to be perfect and mistakes are fine. So, let loose a little bit and have fun!” This group needed quite a bit of motivation and enthusiastic words from me to get the zines done. But there was only so much I could do to get them to embrace zine making and to think about it as a learning opportunity in a liberal arts education.
GZ: What tips would you have for instructors looking to incorporate zines into their classes?
DF: First, You are going to get all types of students in the classroom, and as an instructor you have to embrace it. Students will come to you asking for a different assignment or telling you they are really bad at folding paper, and it will impact their grades and they will not get a good job or get into graduate school after college. You will have to approach this concern with care and kindness, and tell them that this is just one assignment in the course and that they get to learn and explore something new and interesting in college. I also tell the class that a zine is something tangible and it can be added to their college portfolio or shown at future graduate/job application as a critical skill learned in public communication.
Second, it is always good to incorporate zines in course reading content besides the traditional journal articles and essays. [GZ: Check out our archive for some zines to teach with!] Students slowly get the idea that zines not only hold weight in terms of being on par with peer-reviewed academic articles but that zines have their own authority and voice in communicating a story, particularly in terms of voicing perspectives that have been left out of academia. Students recognize these power imbalances, and this is one way for them to open up to reading, working, and making zines in a class.
Third, if you plan to make zines in a large 101 class, it is always good to have the assignment clearly articulated, especially the number of pages of paper to fold. This will avoid all the confusion and frustration that generally comes with grades and creative assignments in higher education, and students are more willing to embrace the idea of making zines for an assignment.
GZ: What do you find most exciting about using zines in the classroom?
DF: For me as an instructor, using zines in the classroom is an easy and comfortable teaching tool to talk with students about different forms of knowledge production, and the politics and stereotypes that come with zines and other non-traditional reading sources. This consciousness about knowledge and power is especially important for a class focused on the experiences of oppressed communities that have lived in highly toxic places and have been excluded from higher education. It is critically important for students to know that environmental activist movements have developed their own forms of knowledge production, and zines are one of those tools that are instrumental in sharing grassroots knowledge and information. Besides this, it is really exciting for me to see students bond over zine making, and create new forms of knowledge in community.
Zines
David vs. Goliath
Abstract: The group uses archival material from the Whitman College Archives to talk about the missing voices, particularly indigenous groups, that were left out of the conversation in the set-up of Hanford Nuclear site in Washington. The group uses archival artifacts to highlight the waste disposal used at nuclear sites, the present day impacts, and the types of segregation persons of color faced when they worked at the Handford nuclear site.
Hanford
Abstract: The group uses archival material from the Whitman College Archives to display the environmental justice movement that countered the secrecy around the Hanford Nuclear site in Washington. The group uses legal documents to highlight the types of impacts nuclear weapon production had on the land, water, and other resources, and the ways it still continues to impact communities in the area.
Inland Empire Waterways
Abstract: The group uses maps from the Whitman College Archives to talk about settler-colonialism and destruction of ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest because of the dams created by the Inland Empire Waterways. The group moves in the past and present of dam sitatations, the historical impacts on tribes in the regions, and the present day restoration efforts. The group also gives information on ways to contribute to the present day environmental justice movement in and around Washington and Oregon on salmon and land conservation efforts.
The 'Great' Myron Eells
Abstract: The group uses archival material from the Whitman College Archives to describe the interactions the local indigenous groups had with white settlers in the Pacific North-West, particularly with that of Myron Eells. Myron Eells along with a group of other missionaries were responsible for the cultural genocide that transpired in the Washington and Oregan region and the present-day decolonial efforts that are taking place by Whitman College.
Taming Rivers
Abstract: The group uses archival material from the Whitman College Archives to highlight settler-colonialism and genocide by taming the watersways and watersheds in the Pacific Northwest. The group uses clippings from old Inland Empire Waterways project documents to critique the ways water engineers and experts used colonial terms and framings to colonize and imperialize the traditional water route for many indigenous groups in the region.
If Treaty Rock Could Speak
Abstract: The group uses archival artifacts to describe the 1855 Treaty and the interaction between the indigenous groups and the white-settler in the Pacific North-West region. The group showcases this interation through the “Rock” (the rock is currently situated at Whitman College) and the ways the rock viewed genocide, the tribal chiefs, and the present day land restoration and acknowledgement efforts that are taking place at Whitman College and the larger Walla Walla area.