Zine Research and Teaching

Teach a lesson using zines, read up on zines, etc.

Introduction

What are zines?

"...zines are noncommercial, nonprofessional, small-circulation magazines which their creators produce, publish and distribute themselves." - Stephen Duncombe, Notes from the Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture

Why teach with zines?

"Zines...challenge the easily digestible mainstream media. They can open students' eyes to other outlets for information, showing alternate sources and forcing students to see how the accessible information that is often just taken for fact also has origins and agendas." - Amy Wan, "Not Just for Kids Anymore: Using Zines in the Classroom."

Zines and other alternative and underground publications can be used as teaching tools for learners from kindegarten to college. There are zines on just about any topic you can think of, from feminism to sports to politics to cooking. When choosing zines for use in your classroom, think carefully about your student's reading level and the subject matter of the zine. Let students explore zines and their history, and you can teach just about anything, including: English Language Arts, Media Literacy, Art, Social Science and History and even Math and Science!