Main speaking page

Past engagements include:

• Nielsen Norman Group. User Experience Seminar.
• SEMINAR: Mass. Institute of Technology
• Keynote: Microsoft Design Conference. Redmond, WA.
• Georgia Tech. Atlanta, GA.
• Ohio State University. Lecture on Japanese comics, Columbus OH.
• SEMINARS:
• Minneapolis College of Art and Design
• University of Maine, Belfast Center.
• Harvard University, Cambridge MA
• Lake Placid Film Festival
• TechTV, "The Screen Savers"
• DARPA, Washington, DC
• Game Developers Conference, San Jose
• University of California Los Angeles CA
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA
• National Cancer Institute, Bethesda MD.
• Chicago Humanities Festival
• Pixar Animation, Emeryville CA.
• SXSW Interactive, Austin TX.
• Electronic Arts, Vancouver B.C.
• Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN
• TechTV, "The Screen Savers"
• Taos Talking Pictures.
• M.I.T. Cambridge MA.
• Game Developers Conference, San Jose.
• Microsoft, Redmond WA.
• Usability Professional Association, Ashville NC.
• IBM Watson Research Institute, NY State.
• Lotus Research, Boston MA.
• Hypertext 2000, San Antonio TX.
• Organic Web Design, San Francisco CA.
• America Online Design Summit, San Jose CA.
• Arts Center College, Pasadena CA.
• Razorfish Broadband Summit, Los Angeles CA.
• Xerox PARC, Palo Alto CA.
• M.I.T. Media Lab, Cambridge MA.
• The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

In the Summer of 2002, I put together a Five-Day Seminar in Comics Storytelling for the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Since then I've given such seminars at six other schools, including M.I.T. and returned to MCAD twice. I'm also developing one, two and three-day versions of the class as well as a second advanced week developed for MCAD.

At the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, January
Photo ©2003 Random Bystander

Each day begins with a Visual Lecture between one and two hours long, including time for questions and discussion. The rest of each day concentrates on applying those ideas with pen and paper and examining the results in group critiques. The focus is on visual communication, not virtuoso drawing ability. Newcomers and experienced artists are equally welcome.

The storytelling techniques discussed in class are applicable to both printed and online comics. One unit discusses comics and technology, but overall, the focus is on how the comics form works from panel to panel -- dynamics which don't change when we change formats or technologies.
"Have laptop, will pontificate!"

With Chris Claremont at San Diego 2002.


I love teaching. The seminars are demanding, exhausting, mammoth challenges, but I enjoy every minute of them and will be happy to jump into the fray again.

If your college or organization would like to sponsor a seminar, please write to scott@scottmccloud.com for pricing and other info.

Student quotes from the Bangor Daily News which featured the course in October:

"He was a great teacher. I had pretty high expectations, and he definitely exceeded them. He was excited about what he does, and he wanted to share as much of his knowledge as possible."
– Josh Roberts.

"During critiques, Scott was respectful to everyone's work and gave equal time to each. We talked about what worked and what didn't and Scott always gave helpful advice."
– Travis Dandro

"I'd like to do my own comic, but I didn't know where to start and what to do. Scott made that easier to understand."
– Dawn Steeves

And from a reporter for the Comics Journal who sat in on the course:

"...[McCloud] proved a personable, highly knowledgeable and engaged instructor, one who plainly cared and had thought a great deal about his subject. His ability to distill, organize and present his material seemed appreciated by and productive for his students."
– Rich Kreiner

Minneapolis student Erik Lervold applies pen to wall in a post-crit break.