The Educational Power of Zines: A Zine 101 Workshop With an Overview on Zines in Education and Research

Join us for an interactive workshop all about zines! In this workshop, we will:

• Review what zines are and discuss their history
• Review various examples of zines
• Explore using zines in and outside of classrooms (zines in formal, non-formal, and informal education)
• Explore using zines to conduct research and disseminate research results
• Discuss our experiences with and questions about zines, their benefits and limitations, and different ways to create them
• Make zines together (instructions will be provided)

This workshop will also provide resources for learning about, teaching with, and making zines.

What Is a Zine?

“Zines are independently published booklets. They can be on a variety of topics like music, feminism, gender, art, spirituality or mental health. They tend to be composed of mixed media like text, illustrations, comics, collages, photographs, and more… The language they use is usually accessible to a general audience. They come from a do-it-yourself (DIY) culture, which emphasizes that anyone should be able to make a zine” (Pantony, 2024, p. 13).

“Zines are self-published or published by a small, independent publisher. Self-publishing allows marginalized voices to express themselves beyond the constraints of mainstream media, and also lets authors take control of the process of publishing. Zines also present an alternative to the hierarchical and commodified world of mainstream media... Zines provide a vehicle for ideas, expression, and art” (Van Leuven, 2017, para. 2).

About the facilitator:

Sage Pantony is a writer, poet, and zinester. They have been making zines since 2019 that have been featured in stores, libraries, and fairs across North America. They are currently completing an MA in Educational Studies at Concordia University. The focus of their research is on zines as empowering, community-building popular education tools for social change.

Thanks to the Visual Methods Studio, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture, the Ethnography Lab, the Sustainable Transition Team Research Initiative, Fonds de Recherche du Québec, and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their support.