Cómo crear un fanzine feminista: una clase para escritoras, artistas y diseñadoras

Historically, feminists have had to fight to get their ideas and messages in front of the public. One of the ways that they did this in the 80s and 90s (and beyond) was to publish zines: short, small-scale independent magazines that they filled with poetry, critical analysis, political cartoons, visual art, and more. 

In this collaborative 6-week class (which must meet a minimum of 2 students), we will work together to create a feminist zine. The content of the zine will depend on the interests and passions of the class's participants; however, I anticipate that it will include essays, poems, visual art, cartoons, critical analysis, humor, lyrics, and more. 

Students will get to participate in every step of the process: picking a theme for the zine, creating content, choosing what content to include, making editorial decisions as a team, and designing the zine. At the end of the 6 weeks, students will have access to a PDF that they can print on their own if they want to distribute their zine to family and friends. 

Course Overview:
Week 1: Introduction & feminist zine history
Week 2: Discuss feminist interests and pick a theme for the zine; begin discussing what content we're looking for
Week 3: Bring at least 2 potential submissions for the zine; share with the class; discuss what we still need for the zine to be complete
Week 4: Bring at least 2 more potential submissions for the zine; share with the class; finalize what will be included in the zine
Week 5: Design week--work together on zine design; divide up responsibilities for designing pages within Canva
Week 6: Finalize the design; create the zine by the end of class

We will use Canva to do our designs, because it is a great free tool. Canva requires a membership and students must be at least 13 years old to create a Canva account. For any student under 13, they will need to use a Canva account belonging to their parent or legal guardian.