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Drawing Inclusions: A Comic about Comics, Disability Studies, and Public Humanities

Part of: Of the Moment (2025)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2025

Rachel Adams
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Public Humanities , Volume 1 , 2025 , e144
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press
A drawing of the author (me) sitting cross-legged on the ground writing on an Ipad. I am a white woman with dark, graying curly hair bundled on top of my head. I wear glasses, a black t-shirt and gray pants and have bare feet. A cluster of geodes, some of which are etched with dark slashes, extends across the bottom of the page. Text reads: “Drawing Inclusions: A Comic about Comics, Disability Studies, and Public Humanities” by Rachel Adams
A drawing of Jeff Wilson, who wears glasses, has short, dark hair swept up in the front, and a slight grin on his face. Text reads: “When Jeff Wilson asked me to write something about Public Humanities and disability studies, I liked the idea…” A picture of me looking pensive before a laptop computer that rests on a desk, which also holds a cup, a pen, and a stack of two books. My hair is straighter and unbound. I’m wearing a black shirt. Text reads: “…of course I decided to make my assignment much harder by asking him if I could do it as a comic!”
In the upper right of the frame, I am sitting in the same pose but surrounded by question marks and thought bubbles that lead to the text on the page. Text in top bubble reads: “Hmmm…now that I’ve landed myself this assignment…what do comics have in common with public humanities?” Text in middle bubble reads: “Well, for one thing, they’re all interdisciplinary fields committed to building bridges between academic knowledge and broader audiences…” Three intersecting circles in different shades of gray, each printed with one of the following words: “disability studies,” “comics,” and “public humanities.” The place where they overlap contains the word, “inclusion.” Text in bubble at the bottom of the frame reads: “and all three share a concern with various kinds of “inclusion”!
Text in box reads: in·clu·sion /inˈklo͞oZH(ə)n,iNGˈklo͞oZH(ə)n/ noun noun: inclusion 1.the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure. “federal legislation now mandates the inclusion of students who are English language learners” a person or thing that is included within a larger group or structure. plural noun: inclusions “the exhibition features such inclusions as the study of the little girl” 2.the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups. “we value and promote diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business” 3.GEOLOGY a body or particle recognizably distinct from the substance in which it is embedded. Overlapping the frame that contains the definition is a speech bubble that reads: “(I love this meaning because it emphasizes how inclusion is different from a concept like “assimilation,” a process where an unfamiliar entity becomes indistinguishable from its environment) Text in the speech bubble beneath it reads “Borrowing from geology, I’m leaning in to the idea of embedded difference, changed by and changing the environments that surround them, while maintaining their own particularities.” The picture of geodes from the title page extends across the lower half of the page. A red arrow points from the word “inclusion” to the slashes in one of geodes. A small, sparkling gem hangs above the cluster, accompanied by the printed words, “As with human differences, when it comes to gemstones sometimes an inclusion adds value, and sometimes it is considered a flaw.”* Below I print, “*thanks to Victoria Rosner for this insight.”
Text for banner pulled by the airplane reads: “under the umbrella of inclusion…three promising threads emerge” A drawing of me, curly hair bundled on top of my head, sitting under a striped beach umbrella. I am cross legged with a tablet on my lap, wearing a black t-shirt and gray capri pants. I have bare feet. From the umbrella dangle three signs, each printed with one of the threads I will pursue. Text inside signs reads (one per sign): “forms,” “environments,” “politics.”
In the background, an image of a sphere balanced on top of a cone balanced on top of a cube, all atop a gray blob. Text reads: I. FORMS According to Caroline Levine, forms are “all shapes and configurations, all ordering principles, all patterns of repetition and difference.”1 For our purposes, content matters, but attention to the form of a given space, object, relationship, or image is equally important. Form is an aspect of meaning. 1. Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network (Princeton University Press, 2015) p. 3.
Text at top of page: “on inclusive forms.” Text in pink bubble: “by designing this piece as a comic I am experimenting with accessible forms!” Text above comics panels in top frame: “Form is much of what makes a comic a comic2 • Comics arrange images in a sequence to tell a story • They often combine words and images” Text below comics panels: • “Frames and blank space are part of a comic’s meaning The simplicity of these formal features, which combine different modes of representation, make comics a highly accessible medium!” Panel 1: A long-eared creature drawn with scribbles stands in front of bathroom doors with the words “gentlemen” and “ladies” printed above. I hope some readers will recognize it as Lacan’s influential illustration of signification in Ecrits. Question marks emanate from its head. Panel 2: A man carrying a sign and a paint can, and wearing a painter’s cap. Panel 3: He is hanging the sign on the wall between the bathroom doors. Panel 4: He uses a paint roller to cover the word “gentleman.” Panel 5: The scribble creature returns to find the gendered terms painted out, a rainbow sign (in color) with the word “whatever” hanging between the doors. Text at top of middle panel reads: “form is crucial to disability access…3” A film screen with the opening of The Muppet Movie, where Kermit the frog sits in a swamp playing a banjo and singing “Rainbow Connection.” Text for Kermit the Frog: “some day we’ll find it, the rainbow connection.” Text beneath image: “closed captioning makes a film accessible to deaf viewers!” Two elevator buttons with braille and arrows to indicate “open” and “close.” Text to left of buttons reads: “elevator buttons that include tactile signs are accessible to blind users!” A PSA from the subway a stick figure seated on the subway, his legs spread wide. There is a big red X and the words, “Dude…stop the spread please.” Text below PSA: “signs that combine words and images allow for different kinds of literacy!” Bottom panel, text at the top reads: “form can make the humanities more (or less) public.” A drawing of a conference poster, a red arrow pointing to the unrealistic instructions about requesting accommodations. The text for the accommodations reads: “request accommodations at least three weeks in advance. By emailing noreply@exclusive.edu.” Text in bullet point beneath the poster reads: “making accommodations overly difficult to arrange!” Poster marked with a read X and that that reads: “not inclusive” A drawing of an open book, and a stack of four other books is captioned with the handwritten words, “Paperback $69.99, Hardback $180.00, ebook $62.99. Text with bullet point reads: “books printed in tiny font at unaffordable prices” Text next to red X: “not inclusive” The speaker pictured in the conference poster stands at a podium. She is a humanoid alien with pointed ears that stick out sideways and antennae, as well as a stalk of dark hair gathered above her head. She speaks without a microphone or visual aids. Each discouraged behavior is marked with a red X (in color). Text with bullet point reads: “lectures with no mic or visual aids!” Text next to red X: “not inclusive” Text for note 2: Some good sources on comics and form: Hillary Chute and Marianne DeKoven, “Introduction: Graphic Narrative,” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 52.4 (Winter 2006): 767–782; and Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (New York: Harper Perennial, 1993). Text for note 3: See Aimi Hamraie’s excellent book, Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability (University of Minnesota Press, 2017).
Text at top of page: II. Environments Text below that: “’Environment’ can mean many different things!” A scribble creature with long ears and limbs holds a sign that says “protect the environment!” It stands next to a dome enclosing an idyllic natural setting of trees, a pond, and cute animals. Text below the frame reads: “Etienne S. Benson writes, at its most basic, an “environment” refers to “a mutually constitutive relation between an entity and that which surrounds it.”4 The creature and the dome blur increasingly into one another. Text at top of middle frame reads: “In other words, an environment is not a static container…”. Text at bottom of last frame: “it is a porous relationship that shapes, and is shaped by, the beings and things that occupy it” This image is inspired by M.C. Escher’s “Drawing Hands.” A robotic hand composed of geometric shapes and round joints draws and is drawn by a monster hand with fur and long dark fingernails. The picture of me working at my laptop appears in the bottom right corner. Text reads: “An environment is an aspect of meaning. It affects our access to, and perception of, a given experience, as well as the relations among its various substituents.” Text for note 4: “4. Surroundings: A History of Environments and Environmentalisms (University of Chicago press, 2020) p. 12.”
Text at top of page: “on inclusive environments.” Text in pink bubble reads: “designing this piece as a comic attempts to embed (and produce) meaning in an inclusive environment!) The page is broken up into three rectangular panels stacked on top of one another. Text on right side of top panel: “Public Humanities seeks environments that enable equitable exchange between scholars and community partners… • An inclusive university environment is free and open to the public… • And makes use of public space in surrounding communities! It should also follow best practices for disability inclusion…5” A furry dog like- creature sits at a desk. It wears an officer’s uniform with a cap pulled over its face. A sign reading “ID REQUIRED TO ENTER” hangs from the desk. The drawing is marked with a red X and reads, “not inclusive!” Text for middle panel: “Disability studies recognizes that environments, built and social, can enable (or obstruct) inclusion of diverse bodyminds…6 • According to the WHO, “a person’s environment has a huge effect on the experience and extent of disability. Inaccessible environments create barriers that often hinder full and effective participation of persons with disabilities on a full and equal basis with others.”7 A figure sits in a wheelchair at the bottom of a staircase, unable to access the door at the top. The figure is humanoid, with curly hair and a very long, thin ponytail sticking upward and drooping at the top. A handwritten note reads, “A wheelchair user is disabled by the absence of a ramp.” The drawing is marked with a red X and reads, “not inclusive!” Bottom panel, text at the top reads: “Comics create and thrive in inclusive environments…8” A comic book titled Freaks, with a blobby figure in silhouette that has two legs, two torsos, and two arms. Text next to comic book reads: “comics are inclusive because they don’t require a specialized environment like a library or museum!” A drawing of me as a girl, hair in braids, sitting cross-legged on a couch. A handwritten note reads, “As a kid, I loved the waiting room at my orthodontist’s office because it was filled with comic books!” A line of atypical-looking creatures of varied shapes and sizes waits beneath a sign that reads, “Welcome to Comicon.” The creatures are drawn to look disabled and humanoid but not human, including conjoined twins, a scribble figure in a wheelchair, a very tall figure with monster feet, and a rotund furry figure with a white cane. Text under this image: “The environments where comics fans and creators gather tend to attract diverse audiences and adapt to meet their needs!” Text for notes reads: 5.For one example, “Accessible Events Guide,” www.opwdd.ny.gov/accessible-events-guide 6.Margaret Price first used this excellent term in her essay, “The Bodymind Problem and the Possibilities of Pain,” Hypatia 30.1 (Winter 2015): 268-284. 7. www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/world-report-on-disability 8.On the history of comics see Jeremy Dauber, American Comics: A History (Norton, 2021) and Jared Gardner, Comics and the History of Twenty-First Century Storytelling (Stanford University Press, 2012).
Top of the page text reads: III. Politics Text below that: “by most definitions, politics is a struggle over rights and resources. The politics of inclusion is concerned with who can claim membership in a given group, and what the terms of access are.” The words are superimposed on a single image that fills the page. It shows seven arms of different colors and species-identities reaching into the center of a circle, hands stacked. The one on top is a darker shade and has the bent little finger characteristic of Down syndrome.
Text above panels: “on inclusive politics” Text in pink bubble: “this comic is inspired by the politics of inclusion!” This page is divided into three panels. Text inside top box: “Susan Smulyan writes, ‘collaboration and social justice need to be at the center’ of all Public Humanities endeavors.9 At the top of the middle frame are the words, “social justice is also central to disability politics that seek more than legally-mandated requirements for access and accommodation…taking the challenge of including disabled bodyminds as an opportunity to rethink environments, products, and cultural practices!10” A picture of two drinking fountains at different heights with the handwritten words, “separate water fountains are ADA-complaint, but they have a notorious history…”. A fork, plate, knife, and spoon, the utensils bent at unconventional angles, with the handwritten words, “Font Cutlery Set by Hop Design Studio in Sydney, Australia can be custom 3D printed for individual users.” Color photos of the covers of three graphic narratives, My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris, Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers, and Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green. A handwritten note says, “some of my favorites!” with red arrows pointing to the books. Text for notes reads: 9.”Why Public Humanities?” Daedalus 151.3 (2022): 124. 10. Sara Hendren, What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World (Penguin, 2020). 11.Hillary Chute, Why Comics? (Harper Collins, 2017); Frederik Byrn Kohlert, “Comics, Form, and Anarchy,” Substance 46.2 (2017): 11-32; Qiana Whitted, EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest (Rutgers University Press, 2019).
The familiar drawing of me at my laptop, but my mouth is open as if I’m talking and the coffee cup is knocked over, a small amount of liquid spilled on the table. The print text on the rest of the page is contained in a frame. The text reads: So what’s to be learned from this intersection of public humanities with comics and disability studies? I have a few ideas: The humanities are uniquely positioned to think critically about the forms and environments we currently inhabit, generate ideas for change, and come up with creative ways to get there. 1. We need forms that are accessible to diverse bodyminds. Comics is my starting place, but there are other arts and media that take access as an occasion to engage multiple sensoria—tactile, auditory, gustatory, olfactory—and neurodiverse cognitive styles. 2. We also need environments that are accessible and welcoming to varied audiences. Disability inclusion can be a starting point for commitment to universal access. 3. Forms and environments become political when we recognize them as arenas of struggle over rights and responsibilities. We’re not there yet! Committing to inclusion—the version that values unassimilable difference—is an opportunity to imagine more creative, just, and sustainable alternatives.
I lie under the beach umbrella, supine with my arms spread in a pose of exhaustion. Text slanting off to the side: “Phew! Turning my ideas into a comic is hard work…” Text beneath figure: “Since I was just on the topic of politics, I’m making the politics of rest visible here…11” A picture of me sitting cross-legged and barefoot working on tablet Text above it: “I hope it will inspire you, readers, to experiment with comics and other accessible forms! And aspire to best practices for inclusion in your public humanities designs and programming!” Another picture of me sitting cross-legged and barefoot working on the tablet in a slightly different pose. Text to right reads: “I hope I’ll do more work like this!” The drawing of Jeff Wilson. Text underneath reads: “I hope public humanities peeps like my comic!” Text for Note: “11.See Tricia Hersey, Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto (Little Brown, 2022).”
The same picture of me lying under the umbrella is reproduced from the previous page. Text in thought bubble reads, “Ahhh…my favorite thing about writing essays is being done.” Frame 1: I am shown from the torso up, my eyes open wide, worry lines under my eyes. Text reads: “Um…wait a minute” Frame 2: I raise my hand to my forehead, eyes closed in distress. Text reads: “I just thought of something really…uh…” Frame 3: Me from the neck up, my hair curling up out of the frame, a wide-eyed panicked expression on my face, mouth open, sweat emanating from my head. There is an asterisk at the top right of this frame. Text reads: “I just wrote a whole essay on disability access that isn’t accessible to blind readers!!!” The asterisk corresponds to a self-portrait by Julia Miele Rodas, drawn from the knees up. She holds a microphone and is saying “Rachel! I think you might be forgetting something…” She wears glasses and her hair is gathered into two balls on either side of her head. Text to the right of Julia reads: “This isn’t what actually happened, but I’ve edited for narrative effect. In truth, my friend the disability studies scholar Julia Miele Rodas, read a draft of this essay and pointed out the problem. Luckily, she could also direct me to some writing on this very topic…”
Image bottom left: Four superimposed copies of me sitting cross-legged working on my tablet, each smaller and in the background of the previous. Text reads: My work in disability studies has taught me to take the challenges of access as a chance to learn something new… I started to read up on recent discussions about comics and access for blind readers. It turns out there are no easy answers. As a visual medium, comics presents inherent obstacles to readers with low vision. But those challenges are also an opportunity to think creatively about access. My solution was to provide alt-text to describe the images I had created for blind readers.”
The same picture of me cross-legged, working on the tablet. Text reads: “By writing my own alt-text, I can identify aspects of an image that are most important to what I want to communicate. I also added this coda to draw attention to the challenges of access to the form I’ve chosen. Readers who want to learn more about adapting comics for blind readers can start with the list below. Click here to see the alt-text I’ve created. A few sources on comics and blind readers: *Yue-Ting Siu, Nick Sousanis, Emily Betiks, and Chancey Fleet, “Accessible Comics for Blind and Low Vision Readers,” Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies 18.3 (2024): 309-329 *Nick Sousanis and Emily Betiks, “Comics Beyond Sight: A Highly Visual Case for Blind Access,” MIT Technology Review July/August 2023. *Rachel Sarah Olosen and Leah Brochu, “Creating an Authentic Experience: A Study in Comic Books, Accessibility, and the Visually Impaired reader,” The International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion 4.1 (January 2020).”
Top of the page text: “In the spirit of inclusion…” A heavy black frame surrounds a drawing scribbled in multiple colors. It includes letters spelling “Hen-ry.” Handprinted letters say, “art by Henry” with an arrow pointing to the frame. Text underneath art: “This comic is dedicated to my son, Henry, whose unusual body and mind inspire my thinking about disability justice Rachel Adams” A drawing of Henry from torso up, leaning into the frame. He is smiling, has very short dark hair with a widow’s peak, and is giving a thumb’s up sign.
Me, supine, resting under the beach umbrella. The airplane pulling the sign is tiny at the right of the page. 1. Text: “Thanks to Julia Miele Rodas, Victoria Rosner, Susan Squier, and Jeff Wilson for help and encouragement while writing this comic.

References

Benson, Etienne. Surroundings: A History of Environments and Environmentalisms. University of Chicago press, 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chute, Hillary and DeKoven, Marianne, “Introduction: Graphic Narrative.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 52.4 (Winter 2006): 767–782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chute, Hillary. Why Comics? Harper Collins, 2017.Google Scholar
Dauber, Jeremy. American Comics: A History. Norton, 2021.Google Scholar
Hamraie, Aimi. Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability. University of Minnesota Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Hendren, Sara. What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World. Penguin, 2020.Google Scholar
Hersey, Tricia. Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto. Little Brown, 2022.Google Scholar
Kohlert, Frederik Byrn. “Comics, Form, and Anarchy.” Substance 46.2 (2017): 11–32 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, Jared. Comics and the History of Twenty-First Century Storytelling. Stanford University Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Levine, Caroline. Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network. Princeton University Press, 2015.Google Scholar
McCloud, Scott, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.Google Scholar
Olosen, Rachel Sarah and Brochu, Leah, “Creating an Authentic Experience: A Study in Comic Books, Accessibility, and the Visually Impaired reader.” The International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion 4.1 (January 2020).Google Scholar
OPWDD New York. “Accessible Events Guide,” www.opwdd.ny.gov/accessible-events-guide Google Scholar
Margaret Price. “The Bodymind Problem and the Possibilities of Pain.” Hypatia 30.1 (Winter 2015): 268–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siu, Yue-Ting, Sousanis, Nick, Betiks, Emily, and Fleet, Chancey, “Accessible Comics for Blind and Low Vision Readers.” Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies 18.3 (2024): 309–329 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smulyan, Susan. “Why Public Humanities?” Daedalus 151.3 (2022): 124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousanis, Nick and Betiks, Emily, “Comics Beyond Sight: A Highly Visual Case for Blind Access.” MIT Technology Review July/August 2023.Google Scholar
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World Health Organization. World Report on Disability. www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/world-report-on-disability Google Scholar