BU Comics Scholar Earns Acquisitions Award

This press release warms the heart of someone like myself who has a longterm goal of establishing a comics-related special collection at his home university:

June 19, 2009 - Boston, MA. The Boston University Humanities Foundation has conferred Division of Religious and Theological Studies (DRTS) doctoral student and comics studies scholar A. David Lewis a Library Acquisitions Award by for a new Religion & Graphica Collection. Expanding on the publisher donations already accumulated by Lewis and the DRTS, this collection, to be house in the School of Theology Library, is exclusively dedicated to comics surrounding religion – either its advocacy, its criticism, its satire, or its consideration – the first of its kind in the U.S. despite enthusiasts and scholars' long-time encouragement.

"This is wonderfully encouraging,” said Lewis. “Following the success of last year’s ‘Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels’ conference, this collection will help further both student and faculty interest in these frequently intersecting fields.” The Religion & Graphica Collection will feature works including the seminal MAUS, Persepolis, Palestine, Promethea, and Sandman graphic novels, including scholarly works on comics and religion.

Purchasing for the collection has already begun in full and should be available beginning in the Fall semester of 2009. The project is being overseen by Head Librarian Jack Ammerman.
Lewis is also the author of award-winning Lone and Level Sands graphic novel and the upcoming Some New Kind of Slaughter hardcover collection with collaborator mpMann. Some New Kind of Slaughter, focused on Flood Myths from all across the world, arrives in July from Archaia Comics.

The Boston University Humanities Foundation was established in 1981 following the award of a $1 million National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School. Their mission is to promote and enhance the work of humanities scholars at Boston University. Learn more about the Foundation at https://www.webmail.utep.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://bu.edu/hf.