Purpose: To create (either individually or as part of a small collective group) a small publication that aims to inform a particular audience about how climate (in)justice affects them and how they can, individually and as a community, confront the problem.

Task: Work to evaluate, proofread, and edit an 8-12 page (minimum--can go longer) zine.

Outcomes: In producing a zine, students are tasked to imagine a specific audience. They need to engage that audience’s interest in the topic and to inform and inspire the audience to take action on that topic. Zine creators must understand the topic deeply as well as research the public and academic conversation, including debates, around the topic—just as they would if they were writing an academic paper. But they take their understanding to a new level in crafting a short publication about the topic that will be both accurate and engaging to a nonacademic audience.

Especially in an English or world languages course, the zine could include creative writing—poems, stories, personal essay, scenes or plays, songs—on climate themes. In a literature course, a zine could contain include reviews, short analysis essays, pieces written in the style of authors studied in the course or in response to them. In an English comp course, the zine could include letters, pieces of memoir, process essays or instructions, satires of political speeches or position papers, among other possibilities.

In history or political science, zines could tell the stories of different climate-justice initiatives of the past and sketch out community-involved possibilities for future. History zines might also draw analogies between past movements or struggles around other topics and those of today around climate justice.

In visual art courses, zines themselves become the artwork. Zines could be graphic novels or tabloids, or the course could experiment with forms: a zine as a scroll, or a poster, or pieces of wadded-up paper thrown in a basket, etc. Or a zine could serve as an artist’s statement to accompany another piece of climate-related visual artwork or to tell the story of how that work was made.

Philosophy—Zines are a way of communicating complex moral and ethical arguments about climate justice to a broader audience.

Science—Zines can report the results of experiments, as in a citizen-science model.

Economics—Zines can report on the economic dimensions of various climate models in language with which a general public can resonate. Or, citizen-science models can be relevant here as well; a zine can describe the economic impact of climate change and climate-mitigation initiatives for a particular community or a particular small business.

Business—Zines can serve as manuals for environmentally responsible business practices.

Further guidelines:

 The zine should be 8-12 pages (but may certainly run longer).

The zine should include an opening letter from the editors that introduces the zine’s vision and goals. It should also include contributors' notes (i.e., author bios) for anyone whose work is included in the zine.

One way to submit the final zine draft is to save the contents as a PDF file using the "booklet" template. In such a case, the zine must use a page count (including front and back cover) that is a multiple of 4.

Alternatively, students may submit it as a webzine, which could be in the form of a  flipbook (see Flipsnack. or Issuu). 

The Library and The Writing Center are planning upcoming Zine workshops. We will show students examples of zines, give them tips on making their own, then provide time and space to beginning creating. 

Stay tuned for details. In the meantime, contact Ryer Banta to discuss your class, assignment, and student support needs.