What are Emaki? Emaki Productions ¥ The website of Neil Cohn
Introduction What is Visual Language? Research
Research Essays Books Speaking Bibliography
Speaking and Teaching

SPEAKING

Please email me if you're interested in having me present at your venue.


Visual Grammar Video

Visual Language Podcast

The Functions of Panels Podcast

Visual Language Grammar

WGBH Boston Interview


Past engagements:

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
VizThink08, San Francisco, CA. (Facilitator)
VaIL
, University of New Mexico. (Keynote)
CAST Inc. Wakefield, MA
Center for Cartoon Studies. White River Junction, VT
MOCA. Los Angeles, CA
UC Berkeley. Berkeley, CA.
PCA/ACA National Conference. Boston, MA.
Symposium on Iconicity. Krakov, Poland
SWIG. University of Dundee, Scotland.
Comic Arts Conference. San Diego, CA

Visual and Iconic Languages Conference, Keynote
University of New Mexico, Albuqurque, August 2007

As far as I can remember, the first time I ever spoke about visual language-ish things would have been in third grade, when my teacher let me teach the class how to draw cartoon characters. And I haven't been able to stop talking about the stuff since!...

I have spoken about visual language theory to audiences of students, researchers, comic creators, scholars, and the general public. My talks usually cover aspects of the structural features of visual language, though I am prepared to talk about more general theory and the relation of VL to comics and other socio-cultural issues (Topics).

Speaking

All of my presentations use rapid paced, image rich slide shows and/or spontaneous drawings. Also, I have considerable experience teaching how to create in this form as well, and would welcome the opportunity to do more of it. My presentations usually last anywhere from 30 to 120 minutes, depending on the subject matter and venue. I’ll answer questions indefinitely.

Comic Arts Conference 2007, San Diego CA

If you are interested in having me present at your venue, or just want more information, I encourage you to email me.

Here are some of the topics that my presentations have covered. They reflect most of the writing I have done or am working on. I usually try to tailor the topic and its presentation to the audience, and, pending on my comfortability with the subject, I am willing to take requests as well. Most likely, my lectures blend several of these:

  • Defining "comics" and their relationship to visual language
  • What is "visual language"? and cultural paradigms of graphic expression
  • Visual Language Grammar: How sequential images create meaning
  • The relationship of visual representation and writing
  • The structure of Japanese manga, and its relation to American comics
  • Multimodality: Text and image relationships
  • The ailments of the American comic industry, and how it can overcome them
  • ...and a lot more!

Teaching

I love teaching and speaking, and have taught full courses on "Comics and the Mind" and "The Visual Linguistics of Comics" at Tufts University. Beyond the presentations described above, I am also prepared to teach classes ranging from a week-long intensive to a full semester class.

Due to their scope, my availability for these types of events is far more limited. However, I am most enthusiastic to teach these types seminars and courses, particularly in the summer months. So, I encourage you to email me if an event like this interests you.

 

For video clips from some of my previous presentations, click on the links in the menu on the left.


VizThink08, San Francisco, CA. Janurary 2008. (Facilitator)


Museum of Contemporary Art,
Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 2004

Site contents © 2008 Neil Cohn. All inquiries can be sent to neilcohn@emaki.net.

To find out when this site is updated, send me an email with the subject "Updates". Addresses will be used strictly for (infrequent) site information and will not be shared.