Atlas Black: Graphic Novel Teacher

Jeremy Short, the professor of management at Texas Tech University considers traditional textbooks "just plain boring," and wanted something "more like a movie" to use as a teaching aid. In pursuit of this, Short co-authored two graphic novels, entitled Atlas Black: Managing to Succeed and Atlas Black: Management Guru?

Short's students agree that the format makes the material easier to relate to, even if his colleagues are not so certain. However, a few other professors have used the Atlas Black graphic novels as a teaching tool, with one noting the only problem being that it follows a narrative arc, forcing the teacher to tailor his course around the book.

While there are a handful of other course books in the sequential art medium, Short and others acknowledge that it has a stigma many educators find hard to overcome. Still, the Atlas Black books have been quite lucrative for their publisher, Flat World Knowledge, and Jeremy Short is hard at work writing a third graphic novel on franchising.

Source: USA Today

© C Harris Lynn, 2010