Drawing New Connections: Comics, Community, and Recovery

Graphic Ethnography: Comics as Research, a service-learning course taught by Professor Adam Rosenblatt, explores comics as both an innovative research method and a medium for authentic human connection. Through a partnership with TROSA (Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers), students use comics to tell recovery stories—collaboratively crafted with TROSA residents. What emerges isn't just research. It's relationship.

"Comics can carry complexity and kindness," Rosenblatt says. "It's a medium where multiple truths can live in the same frame."

The course began with students studying how comics work as a medium and how researchers are using them in innovative ways. They examined a wide array of nonfiction and research-based comics before venturing into the field themselves.

Breaking Academic Bubbles

For many students, the class offers their first meaningful connection with the Durham community beyond campus boundaries.

"I've spent three years at Duke without ever truly connecting with the Durham community," said Joanna Marbanyang, a PhD student in cultural anthropology. "This course reminded me that there are people living complicated, beautiful lives right here in Durham."

Yueqi Dou, a junior visiting Duke from Duke Kunshan University in China and majoring in cultural anthropology, echoed the sentiment. "Back in DKU, we don't really have a lot of classes that work with the local community. I know so little about the place we live and study in," she reflected. "I'm enjoying [community-engaged learning] so much because it gets us out of the classroom to interact with our community partners."

This perspective-shifting experience begins with presence. Before students could start recording interviews or sketching comics, the class attended TROSA community meetings and graduation ceremonies, establishing trust and respect for residents' spaces and stories.

Comics as a 'Third Space' for Connection

While few students enter the class with artistic training, Rosenblatt insists that drawing skill isn't the point—care is. 

"Even if the comics are stick figures, you can always feel the respect," he said. "What matters is how thoughtfully students represent their partners' stories."

Each student pairs with a TROSA resident to co-create a visual narrative based on interviews, often incorporating symbolism chosen by the resident. Carol Ann, partnered with student Federico, specifically requested to be depicted as a bald eagle.

For Carol Ann, the eagle wasn't just artistic choice—it represented her transformation after years of addiction and recovery work:

“When I saw the eagle imagery, I thought about how I had let drugs consume my life and stop me from soaring to my highest potential,” she shared. “I always believed I was destined for greatness — I just had to be tried by fire.”

For her, the eagle symbolizes more than recovery, it’s a powerful visual metaphor for her journey toward freedom and strength:

“Eagles are strong, resilient, and pure in spirit. They’re leaders, visionaries, and they overcome — that’s how I see myself now.”

Edward, a student who connected with Brandon over their shared love of gaming, created a comic structured like a video game where Brandon gained abilities like "sneak" and faced addiction represented as powerful enemies (known as "bosses" in gaming) that he needed to defeat in challenging encounters to progress. This shared language transformed difficult experiences into a narrative of empowerment. 

“People can have wildly different life experiences," Rosenblatt said, "but comics become a kind of third space where they can meet as equals."

The creative process revealed unexpected vulnerabilities on both sides. Students, many with limited artistic experience, felt exposed by sharing their drawings. Meanwhile, residents shared deeply personal stories of trauma and transformation. 

Tori, who worked with student Evelyn Shue, discovered unexpected joy in collaborative drawing. Both partners depicted themselves as fish, a metaphor they developed together, and created comics side by side, merging their visual styles despite having minimal artistic experience.

Centering Resident Voices and Ethical Storytelling

TROSA residents aren't just subjects—they're creative collaborators. Some help draw their own comics. Others help shape the tone, content, and visual metaphors.

Karen Kelley, TROSA's Chief Program Officer who has been with the organization for over 20 years, called the collaboration "heart-centered" and "sacred."

"We're storytellers at TROSA," she said. "But it's something different to tell your story to someone outside your community—and then see it represented visually, through their eyes and yours."

This process often challenges students' assumptions about what counts as valid knowledge or academic expression.

"I had to unlearn so much to really engage with this class," Joanna added. "As a PhD student, I came in thinking a certain kind of analysis was more valuable—but I quickly realized that drawing, listening, and letting people tell their stories on their own terms required a different kind of rigor."

That rigor includes ethical responsibility. When one student chose to leave out a resident's traumatic childhood from the comic, Rosenblatt challenged them to reflect.

"Who are you trying to protect?" he asked. "Because he didn't ask for that part to be removed."

Kelley agreed. That moment, she said, illuminated a deeper lesson: respecting agency also means trusting people to share hard truths, on their own terms.

Metamorphosis: From Stick Figures to Superheroes

What began as a class assignment evolved into something far deeper. For some residents, seeing themselves illustrated on the page becomes a powerful affirmation.

"I think the people at TROSA are superheroes," Kelley said. "I love that they get to see themselves that way."

The visual metaphors residents chose reflect profound transformations. Briana, working with student Jane Yoon, depicted herself as a caterpillar building a cocoon before emerging as a butterfly—visualizing her journey through recovery and rebirth. The comic, titled "Overcoming Addiction," ends with the powerful image of a fully transformed butterfly, “still growing, still flying, and nothing now matters except now."

Marc, collaborating with Yueqi, drew himself as trapped behind a dark cloud, representing depression and addiction. His comic concludes with words of encouragement: "Accept the challenge, set your boundaries, build your foundation, respect others, love yourself, yeah..."

Finding Self-Love Through Recovery

For many residents, the journey through TROSA wasn't just about overcoming addiction—it was about discovering self-love and acceptance for the first time.

Christina, who worked with student Joanna Marbanyang, developed the concept of "alonement" to describe her recovery process. In their comic, they explored this powerful idea. For Christina, alonement was an understanding that to love someone else, she had to love herself first—starting with her recognition that, after many years, she was finally enjoying the feeling of being alone with herself again. The panels illustrate Christina's progressive journey from isolation to self-acceptance.

This theme of self-discovery appears throughout the comics. Similarly, Briana, working with Jane Yoon, explored how recovery meant learning to value herself. Her caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation metaphor wasn't just about change—it was about recognizing her intrinsic worth even amid darkness and difficulties.

Carol Ann hopes that others who see her story will take away one message: “You’re not alone in your struggles. What seems impossible can become possible if you set your mind to it.”

Creating Connection Beyond Campus

The project culminated in a public exhibit at TROSA, where students and residents showcased their comics together—side by side.

For Rosenblatt, these moments of connection demonstrate the true value of community-engaged learning. "We went into TROSA's space. We listened to graduation speeches. We were guests in someone else's story before we could begin recording them ourselves."

The partnership may continue beyond this semester. Rosenblatt and colleague Bill Fick, a printmaker, have proposed bringing a mobile comics and zine studio to TROSA for ongoing workshops—extending the creative collaboration that began in the classroom.

And for students like Yueqi, the deepest lesson may be about presence and humility.

"This course reminded me that we're always guests in someone else's story," she said.

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Comics from the TROSA Collaboration

The slideshow below features a selection of comics co-created by students and TROSA residents. Some comics were co-drawn with residents; others were created by students after a series of interviews and shared sketching sessions. Each comic reflects a relationship, a story, and a visual language shaped together.

Click through to explore the stories.