The GSC strives to be an inclusive organization and is committed to actively seeking out,
promoting, and encouraging the participation/engagement of marginalized groups and
underrepresented persons. In pursuit of this commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion within the field of comics studies, the GSC pledges to:
- Provide opportunities for marginalized members of the GSC to take on leadership
roles within the organization, if interested, without an expected history of
publication, presentation, or historical involvement with the field at large. - Encourage membership and engagement within the GSC without the expectation
of extra service labor in order to be recognized as a full participant. - Commit to promoting and maintaining a presence at CSS events in order to assist
in fostering a welcoming space for our members. - Host online participation options for all GSC events and meetings that are open to
our membership in order to address the ways that scholars with disabilities, those
without financial wealth, and international scholars have been excluded from
academic modes of participation. - Center and compensate the intellectual and creative work of those who have been
marginalized scholars within comics studies and publishing, specifically scholars
of color and of marginalized gender and sexual identities. In the event that the
GSC cannot provide monetary compensation, the GSC Executive Committee will
work with the scholar to find other ways to acknowledge and recognize that work. - Commit to using our broader digital platform as a space where we connect comics
practitioners, fans, and scholars together regardless of institutional affiliation to
encourage multimodal participation across digital spaces. - Commit to demystifying the profession and breaking down barriers to access and
inclusion within the field of comics studies via sharing of information about
conferences, CFPs, speaker opportunities, etc. - Support the interdisciplinarity of our field through the make-up of our featured
GSC panels, roundtables, etc. and the CFPs that we share through our digital
platforms to recognize the diversity and interdisciplinarity of our field of study. - Actively combat the tenets of white supremacist and capitalist culture by creating
a flexible labour environment from within which we prioritize personal
well-being and collective care above productivity and perfectionism. - Actively confront white supremacy, sexism, aggressions/discrimination against
the LGBTQIA+ community, transphobia, and ableism within the GSC, CSS, and
the field of comics studies at large.
