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More Memes: Popular Visual Literacy Program Offered Again

By Jillian Ewalt and Bridget Retzloff

Think about how many images you encounter every day. For most people, it’s a lot! Building skills in visual literacy — the ability to find, interpret, evaluate and use images and visual media — can better equip us to make meaning of and think critically about images.

In an interactive, virtual session, which is PATH-eligible for students, participants learn how to create their own memes while learning about visual literacy. The session includes videos, short articles and brief quizzes that introduce participants in a fun, lighthearted way to concepts such as public domain, fair use and Creative Commons licensing. It also includes a short activity in which they can apply their understanding of how to make meaning of images and ethically reuse them. 

This asynchronous, self-guided distance-learning activity, available on the 1850 app, is free and open to all through Monday, Nov. 15.

This tutorial was also offered during the Fall 2020 semester. Students created some thoughtful and downright hilarious memes by combining an image from the public domain or Creative Commons with a funny caption. Some examples from the 2020 program are included in this blog post, with more examples in a blog post from last fall. We can’t wait to see what students come up with this year! 

For more information, contact Bridget Retzloff at or Jillian Ewalt.

— Jillian Ewalt is an associate professor and librarian for visual resources in the Marian Library. Bridget Retzloff is a lecturer and visiting research librarian in Roesch Library.

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