{"id":41402,"date":"2022-04-11T17:12:14","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T17:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/?post_type=cu_story&p=41402"},"modified":"2025-02-03T11:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:30:16","slug":"drawing-lessons-from-the-french-revolution","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/story\/drawing-lessons-from-the-french-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing Lessons from the French Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Drawing Lessons from the French Revolution \n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n

History professor teams up with graphic recorder to bring lectures to life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Alyssa Tremblay<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the long-running West End musical Les Mis\u00e9rables<\/em> to Sofia Coppola\u2019s lush 2006 film Marie Antoinette<\/em>, visual retellings of the French Revolution have a history of captivating and fascinating the human mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in telling his students about this turbulent period of radical social and political change in eighteenth-century France, Professor Rod Phillips<\/a> of the Department of History<\/a> decided to try putting a new visual spin on his own teaching style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do so, Phillips invited his friend \u2013 Ottawa-based designer and artist Jordana Globerman<\/a> \u2013 to graphically record one of his lectures for his course HIST 3113 (The French Revolution: 1789-1799).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Professor
Professor Rod Phillips (Department of History) and Jordana Globerman<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI looked at her website and saw she had done graphic recording for corporate meetings. I had never seen that before, and I thought, \u2018Why wouldn\u2019t this work for a lecture?\u2019\u201d said Phillips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globerman describes graphic recording as the live capture, through drawing, of key messages from a workshop, presentation or conversation in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGraphic recorders listen closely to what is being said and translate the key concepts into easy to digest visuals,\u201d explained Globerman, who has worked as a graphic recorder at conferences like TED Global in Geneva, team-building workshops in Jordan, the Prime Minister’s town hall, government workshops, retreats, and even retirement parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was her first experience illustrating a university lecture, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For an hour, Globerman sat in the classroom sketching on sheets of paper positioned underneath a document camera. The camera projected her drawings live onto the display screens behind Phillips as he taught the course material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images were later edited by Globerman into one big infographic, which was shared with the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphic
Graphic recording by Jordana Globerman from Prof. Phillips’ lecture (HIST 3113 – The French Revolution: 1789-1799) on October 4, 2021. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Speaking from decades of teaching experience, Phillips sees real value in graphic recording as an educational tool, perhaps particularly in the study of history given the popularity and effectiveness of illustrated approaches to historical storytelling like Chester Brown\u2019s bestselling collection of Louis Riel<\/em> comics and Art Spiegelman\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI already illustrate my lectures with images and videos, but graphic recording is different \u2013 it\u2019s dynamic and it evolves with the lecture,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can also introduce some humour.  At one point in my lecture, I talked about some peasants losing grazing rights for their livestock when common lands were privatized. Jordana drew a lamb trying to clutch its owner and tears spurting from its eyes, as it was taken away. I mean, on one level it\u2019s sad, but on another it\u2019s very funny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globerman, who also makes YouTube tutorials<\/a> on visual thinking, believes that graphic recording offers another entry point for students \u2013 or anyone, really! \u2013 to better understand a concept, project or story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost people are either visual thinkers or respond to more than one form of thinking, so having a visual component accompany an oral presentation is super helpful for memory retention and comprehension.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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