UH Collegiate Fellow and Faculty Leader of House Shaula, Professor Max Barnewitz, has been busy! They recently worked alongside UMD’s BookLab to revive the Zine Club—and have since been featured in The Diamondback for their hard work. Check out the article below to learn more about this cultural phenomenon and to hear from Max about their love of the zine.
by Emely Miranda-Aguilar
posted online October 15, 2024
The Diamondback
Zines — pronounced like “magazine” — are the history books of counterculture, inviting students for decades to experiment with clippings, texts and art.
Students at the University of Maryland can design their own eclectic booklets at Zine Club, which lecturer Max Barnewitz relaunched at a meeting earlier this month in Tawes Hall with the help of the English department’s BookLab.
BookLab previously ran a Zine Club before the pandemic, but was unable to continue the club afterward, Barnewitz said.
Zines have historically been a form of self-expression. Barnewitz said zines can be artistically inclined, comics, scientific or informative — it is what the maker makes it.
“[Zines] are, I think, generally described as self-published works of a small print size,” Barnewitz said. “They’re more dedicated to sharing ideas, sharing things that you’re interested in.”
Barnewitz, also a Collegiate Fellow at this university’s Honors College, received a masters of fine arts degree in comics, coordinated zine festivals and continued their research on comics and zines at this university.
Barnewitz and BookLab provide students with collage materials, magazines and art supplies. Immediately, students at the meeting jumped into action and started to share their ideas with each other.
“[It’s important] to have people come together to create together,” junior geology major Charlie McFadden said. “It’s important for group creation, as well as individual.”
McFadden was looking for arts and writing clubs to get involved with before he found Zine Club. McFadden said he enjoys mixed media creation and was glad for the friendly atmosphere.
At the meeting, McFadden created an oceanic life-themed collage with cutouts from National Geographic magazines. McFadden is drawn to images of seascapes and wanted to show his interest in art and the ocean together in his collage, he said.
Jamie Thurmond, a freshman technology and information design major, found the club’s atmosphere to be pleasant, and liked the community of people interested in zines.
“What really makes a club, and also what really makes a zine is this community,” Thurmond said. “Being able to hear other people’s stories [and] perspectives, but also being able to see their zines is pretty cool.”
Thurmond began working on the cover for a zine during the club meeting, but said she was unsure of the route to take her work, considering a more comedic route.
For a long time, Thurmond made copies of books, soon developing an interest in alternative comics that led her to zine culture.
Barnewitz said the club’s goal will emerge as time goes on, but they hope to build a community where students learn to make zines and connect with their artistic side.
“I think regardless of whether students are pursuing the arts as their major, the arts can help you process your own experiences and also make connections with other people,” Barnewitz said.
Want to learn more about Zines? Join Professor Barnewitz at the Annual DC Zine Fest! This free and accessible event is scheduled for October 26, 2024, from 11am to 4pm at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Featuring zinesters from DC and beyond selling zines, comics, and more at their tables, this exciting event also has a full schedule of hands-on zine workshops.
The Fest is conveniently located off the Green Line of the DC Metro. If you need access to the metro, UH has a limited number of pre-loaded metro cards available.
For your attendance at Zine Fest, we are offering 50 House Cup Points! So sign up below to guarantee you receive the 50 points. This form will also ask if you need a metro card to attend DC Zine Fest! By receiving a metro card your attendance at Zine Fest is REQUIRED and we are expecting to see you there. Please sign up for a metro card by Friday, October 18th!