Bygone are the days when comic books were considered as entertainment for kids only. The comic industry/the pop-culture industry is now swinging young and adults in wider trajectories. Comic characters are now not just confined to books only but have also breathed new life into a genre of TV shows, movies, animations, computer games. Moreover, they have secured places on our t-shirts, mugs, caps, rucksack, bed covers, pillow cases and what not. Such a generation which is drenched by comic culture gets to associate their non-academic lives with their academic lives on the platform which ULAB is creating for them. On 12th June 2015 Centre for language Studies, ULAB had organized the very first national conference on “Embracing Graphicdemia: The Role of Graphic Novels and Comics in Academia.” Following the tune, ULAB School of Business (USB) implemented the concept and held a seminar and workshop on “Teaching Business Ethics with Comic Books” on 27 July, 2015 in the auditorium of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.
The seminar started with the welcome note from Professor William Derrenger, Dean ULAB School of Business. After that Professor Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor of ULAB gave a short speech. Then Sajedul Haq, Assistant Professor and Director, Center for Language Studies, ULAB gave his talk explaining the role and importance of comic studies/graphic novels in academia. The talk was followed by Tahseen Salman Choudhury, Director Paricharja (a local NGO providing low-cost outdoor medical services) and a comic researcher. Choudhury was the keynote speaker in the seminar and addressed business ethics, ethical dilemmas which have been captured by both local and international comic books. After the keynote presentation, Asifur Rahman, writer and artist from Dhaka Comics, talked about the comic industry of Bangladesh and Dhaka Comics. The seminar ended with the talk by Samir Asran Rahman, Creative Director, Mighty Punch Studios where he shared his own experience in this industry and a short story of the journey of Mighty Punch Studios.
A workshop was conducted in the second part of the event. Business students of Professor William Derrenger, Dean USB, Assistant Professor Wazir Ahmed, Director USB, Fariha Saleh, Lecturer USB, Arzoo Ismail, Lecturer USB and students of Media Studies and Journalism (MSJ) department of Naima Alam, Lecturer MSJ, participated in the workshop. Students were divided into various groups and were instructed to identify ethical issues in business in the context of Bangladesh and create a comic story about it. The comic stories were displayed and Professor Jahirul Haque, Pro Vice Chancellor, ULAB handed over certificates and awards to the best three teams for their comic stories about business ethics.