Tilley to deliver Banned Books Week talk at Harper College

Carol Tilley
Carol Tilley, Associate Professor

Associate Professor Carol Tilley will participate in Banned Books Week with a talk at Harper College titled, “Comics, Classrooms, and Censorship.” Her talk is one of several events hosted by Harper College Library during the week of September 27 - October 3, when the American Library Association will hold their annual celebration of the freedom to read. She will speak on Wednesday, September 30, at 12:30 p.m.:

Comics and graphic novels are enjoying great popularity among readers and teachers at all levels today, but this hasn't always been true. This talk will feature stories of some of the pioneering educators and persistent readers as well as would-be censors in comics' history (and present).

"Comics have been in the headlines this past couple of years as students (and legislators) have challenged whether titles such as Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis are appropriate texts for college courses. I look forward to highlighting these debates and sharing some of the history of how comics have played a role in higher education," Tilley said.

Tilley is a nationally known expert in comics readership and history and has worked with many of the comic-related archives and research collections in the U.S. Her research has focused on comics/youth engagement—historically and today—and the many factors that have influenced engagement, such as the role of librarians and educators. She has looked closely at the attitudes and practices of librarians, which may have impacted comics readership and certainly influenced access.

Tilley’s research has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Information & Culture: A Journal of History, and Children’s Literature in Education. Her research on anti-comics advocate Fredric Wertham has been featured in The New York Times and other media outlets. At GSLIS, she teaches courses in comics reader’s advisory, media literacy, and youth services librarianship.

Tags:
Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

New book explores how AI is reshaping cultural heritage

Glen Layne-Worthey, associate director for research support services for the HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC), and J. Stephen Downie, professor and HTRC co-director, have edited a new book, Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage Organisations, which was recently released by UCL Press. 

Jung to join the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Yonghan Jung will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2025, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. 

Yonghan Jung

Aubin Le Quéré to join the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Marianne Aubin Le Quéré will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2026, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Aubin Le Quéré is a PhD candidate in the Department of Information Science at Cornell University. For the 2025-2026 academic year, she will be a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy.

Marianne Aubin Le Quere