Panels

All CaziCon 2025 panels will be presented live at the Somerville Armory on June 1, 2025.

More than Words: Comics and Literacy

10:15-11:00am

How do comics and graphic novels encourage literacy development and a love of reading in children? The interplay of pictures and prose can help readers learn to draw inferences, build fluency, and create narrative awareness. How can comics be used in the classroom and at home to build a lifelong reading habit, and what are some great reads beyond the old standbys?

Panelists: Sammy Savos, Shaina Lu, Calista Brill, Magnolia Porter Moderator: Rebecca Aaronson

Teaching through Comics

11:15am-12:00pm

Nonfiction comics are an accessible way to learn about complicated ideas from natural history to how to cook. How do the artists and writers take big concepts and break them down? How is it different from sequential fiction, and how can it draw in new audiences for memoirs, natural history, and more?

Panelists: Caroline Hu, Ellen Crenshaw, Bones Leopard, Lindsey Leigh

Moderator: Heide Solbrig

Monsters of the Moment

12:15-1:00pm

Every era has its own monsters, and the monsters of a particular period often reflect the concerns of the times - Dracula used vampire mythology to explore fears about immigration and otherness, for example. Current trends include ghosts, evil houses, and zombies - but with a fungal twist. What do these tropes tell us about our current social fears, and what do we think the future of horror will be?

Panelists: Gillian Daniels, Lindsay Moore, Cat Scully

Roll for Empathy: Storytelling as a Bridge to Understanding

1:15-2:00pm

Stories are an important look into the experiences of other people, whether they are fiction or nonfiction. They help us experience another person’s world and inhabit their thoughts and feelings.  How can comics, RPGs and other stories help build empathy in children and adults? 

Panelists: Sierra Barnes, Tana Ford, Allan Knowles, Hayden Sherman