42 BCALA NEWS Volume 41, Issue 3
Summer 2014
Putting the Creativity of Troubled Teens to Good Use: An Interview with AI
Gavigan DS i n the Ed Zn BY THE BCALA PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
Editor’s note: The following is an interview with Dr. Karen Gavigan regarding her work, ‘‘AIDS in the End Zone.” Gaivgan’s work was published by the University of South Carolina Press and full information about the title is available at
http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/ books/2014/
7424.html. Dr. Gavigan is a professor at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina.
Publications Committee: Okay, so your title AIDS in the End Zone is a graphic novel aimed at educating teenagers about HIV and AIDS. What got you and Dr. Kendra Albright interested in doing a work on AIDS education for teens?
Karen Gavigan: Kendra approached me with the idea for the project shortly after I started working at SLIS. She knew that I conducted research using graphic novels with male adolescents, and she thought that a graphic novel would be a good format to use as an HIV/AIDS prevention tool for teens. Since HIV/AIDS resources is her area of expertise, we make a good team. My interest in working on this project was heightened by the fact that [South Carolina] is ranked 6th in the nation for HIV/AIDS and Columbia is ranked 10th for metropolitan areas.
P.C.: The medium seems a bit unorthodox. Why did you choose to do a graphic novel?
K.G.: We felt that the graphic novel format would be an effective way to reach teens. Today’s young people have grown up in a ‘‘mediasphere”, and they are very visual and multimedia learners. It is important to provide them with materials that are popular with their generation. Young adults are more inclined to read and retain information if it is in an engaging format such as graphic novels. Also, studies have shown that graphic novels can scaffold learning for readers, and the artistic format can facilitate learning for students with different learning styles and abilities (Botzakis, 2009; Carter, 2007; Gavigan, 2012; Krashen, 2004; Monnin, 2008).
P.C.: You had incarcerated teenagers write the plot and the dialogue to this work, which also seems a bit unorthodox. What led to this decision?
K.G.: You could say we backed into this situation. We originally tried to partner with a local alternative school and the librarian, teachers and principal were fully on board with the project. However, the school district would not allow us to work in the school due to the controversial nature of the topic. Fortunately, the librarian at the alternative school had previously worked at the S.C. Juvenile Justice System’s high school, and he said that he thought they would be happy to have us conduct the project there. Thankfully, he was right. The partnership has been fantastic, so we were fortunate that circumstances allowed us to make lemonade from a lemon.
P.C.: What challenges came with working with these incarcerated teenagers?
K.G.: The teens were wonderful to work with. They were eager to help us with the project, and they were fully engaged in the process. We thoroughly enjoyed our collaboration with them, and
n oe author, Dr. Karen
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