The Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Slavic and East European Studies and the East Asian Studies Center are pleased to announce the recipient of the inaugural OIA Area Studies Center Conference Grant. Prof. Nena Couch, area studies interim head at University Libraries, was awarded $6,700 for her proposal, "Area Studies Global Comics Lecture Series." Collaborating team members include Prof. Ann Marie Davis (Japanese studies librarian), Prof. Magda El-Sherbini (Middle East studies librarian), Prof. Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros (Latin American studies librarian), Prof. Joseph Galron (Jewish studies librarian) and Miroljub Ruzic (East European/Slavic studies librarian).

University Libraries’ Area Studies Department proposed to launch a transnational lecture series on the theme of "Global Comics" during the 2019-2020 academic year. The series will promote comics scholarship within the academic community and the general public on global transnational issues such as immigration/migration, nationalism, identity and culture, feminism, political censorship and propaganda, environmentalism, globalization, nuclear power, technology disruption, and others, discussed from distinct regional perspectives. The success of comics exhibits such as the current Tales from La Vida: Latinx Comics (November 2018 to March 2019) and Looking Backwards, Looking Forward: U.S. immigration in Cartoons & Comics (November 2018-April 2018) at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, have demonstrated comics as a powerful means of story-telling and tool for global citizenship instruction. This series will build on OSU strengths in faculty expertise and librarians’ experience developing public programming related to comics and animation, including “Cartooning in the Arab World Today,” “Inventing the Latino/a Hero,” and “Rethinking What’s Sacred about ‘Ano Hana’ Anime Pilgrimage.” The team of Area Studies librarians will work with their Centers and faculty to embed the lectures and their topics into courses and to support research that grows out of both lectures and classes. 

To further develop and enhance area studies research and dialogue at OSU, the area studies centers of the Office of International Affairs launched the OIA Area Studies Center Conference Grant program in 2019. The program supports the study of global issues from interdisciplinary, multi-regional perspectives in the form of a conference or series of lectures that bring together area studies experts. This grant program is supported by U.S. Department of Education Title VI grants for The Ohio State University’s Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Slavic and East European Studies, and East Asian Studies Center.