This is an instruction guide on making an Online Zine Project for a History Class.

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Online “Zine” Project

Students will watch the documentary Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea and use that film, as well as class notes, to create a 10 slide online magazine (or “Zine”) explaining privilege in the US. Ideas you should consider when working on this project:

• What is privilege? 
• Who has privilege in the US?
• What does it mean to have privilege? 

Students will not be required to publish this Zine online but can certainly do so if they choose

WHAT IS A ZINE?

Before there was stan twitter there was the fanzine, created originally by sci-fi enthusiasts of the early twentieth century who used the medium as a forum for dialogue, free from corporate editors or publishers. That same do-it-yourself ethos is what drew punks of the late twentieth century to embrace fanzines as a complement to their music, and as a means to challenge mainstream ideologies.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, zines became a centerpiece of movements like Queercore and Riot Grrrl. While the latter of these was critiqued for being primarily white and heteronormative, overall, these movements used zines to subvert dominant and patriarchal ideologies through the sharing of lived experiences. At the core of the zine-making ethos are subversion, freedom of thought, and a DIY attitude.[1]

WHAT ARE ZINES GOOD FOR?

Zines tend to be made up of various images, texts, and messages.

Here is a list of just a few of the things you can do with the zine format:

• Publish sketches, drawings, and mini-comics
• Mix words with images and textures
• Print lines of poetry, song lyrics, or relevant quotes

For this assignment, your zine should be used to educate others about something you learned from class this semester. You should use your notes from class to provide context and insight. You can pick any topic that we covered in class and you should consider why this topic is important and what you would want someone outside of our class to know about it.

Think of your Zine this way: If someone was scrolling through your social media feed, how would you get their attention? 

This assignment does not require outside research or a works cited page as long as you focus on class notes. If you choose to do any outside research you should include a works cited page in addition to your 10-slide project.

You should not copy and paste text from any online sources or library sources for this project—doing so will be considered plagiarism. You may use images from the internet—use of images does not require citation or a works cited page.

Your audience for this Zine is people who have no prior knowledge about American history or the concept of Privilege, so make sure that you provide enough information so that your Zine can be understood by someone who is not in our class.

HOW TO CREATE A ZINE:

Please note: If you use Power Point, your zine should NOT look like a power point presentation. I want to see that you are treating this as a magazine rather than a power point presentation. We will not be grading you on your prowess as a graphic designer, however, we will be grading you on thoughtfulness. We want to see that you’ve put real time and effort into putting your project together. If it looks like a traditional power point presentation, you have not completed the assignment correctly. 

Whatever you create will need to be uploaded to Canvas. 

GUIDE FOR MAKING GOOD ZINES

Guidelines & Point Distribution:

INFORMATION ACCURACY

Student uses information from both the documentary and from class effectively. Zine is free from misinformation or any factually inaccurate information. Zine centers factual information and is not comprised solely of opinions and/or anecdotal information.

EFFECTIVENESS

Student has effectively communicated their topic to an audience with no prior knowledge of the history of the topic

ORIGINAL CONTENT

While this Zine may include quotes or images from other sources, it is authentically original, created by the student in their own voice and from their own perspective

CLARITY

It is easy to understand the point being made in the Zine. Readers would have no problem following the logic or understanding the concept.

CREATIVITY

It is clear that the student took time and effort to create an interesting Zine. While it is difficult to quantify creativity exactly, Zines must be more than just slide shows or power point presentations.

ROUGH DRAFTS:

If you would like feedback/comments on your assignment before you submit them, please send a rough draft to your assigned grader. (Graders will be assigned after drop/add week)

Graders will accept rough drafts of this assignment until February 4, at 11:59pm. If you miss this deadline you should not expect that graders will have enough time to return your rough draft with comments.

Assigned Graders: 

DON’T LOSE POINTS:

Word Count/Page Count:

This assignment does not have a “word count” but rather a “page count.” Your Zine must include 10 “pages.”

Students will receive -25 for each page they go over or under the required 10 pages

Facts:

It is very important that you put your Zine together using facts. You should make it clear why you think the info your sharing is worth learning about—you must center information you learned from class. If you Zine includes no facts students will receive

-75 points

Use of Documentary & Class Notes

Students must use the documentary, Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea as well as class notes to complete this assignment. It should be evident in your Zine that your work is informed by both of these sources. 

Projects that do not use class notes -50

Projects that do not use the documentary -50

Plagiarism:

While you can certainly include quotes and images in your Zine, make sure your voice is centered in this project. If your Zine is made up entirely of quotes and images from other people, then you have not effectively created a Zine, you have just gathered content together in one place.

If you plagiarize to complete this assignment, you will receive a 0