Dr. Alison Halsall, Associate Professor of Humanities at York University, studies graphic texts in relation to children and childhood. She is the coordinator of the Children, Childhood and Youth Program at York, an undergraduate program that takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding childhood from the perspective of children. The program prepares students for work in fields such as advocacy, counselling, education, health and wellness, and international development, all related to the rights and the experiences of children and youth. In this interview, she talks about her new book, Growing Up Graphic: The Comics of Children in Crisis. The book deals with some very tough topics, including child soldiers and migrant children.

Dr. Fatoumata Seck of Stanford University is a literary scholar who studies African literature, including Senegalese graphic comics. As a multilinguist, she offers insights into the importance of cultural translation at a time of increasing xenophobia, and the power of satire in the face of hegemonic economic policies.

Prof. Thy Phu of Western University is an English literature scholar who studies the discursive role of photographs in society. Her exhibit of family photos at the Royal Ontario Museum asks us to reconsider our assumptions about families.