Unfurling Unflattening: Opening New Possibilities for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

An engaging collection that shows how Nick Sousanis's groundbreaking book Unflattening is inspiring teaching and learning across disciplines in higher ed.

Includes both inspiration and practical strategies for classrooms, research projects, and professional training.

Over the past decade, Nick Sousanis's groundbreaking graphic novel Unflattening--an experiment in visual thinking written entirely in comics, published in 2015--has quietly been transforming higher education across a broad range of disciplines. Sousanis's innovative fusion of words, images, and nonlinear narrative challenges the dominance of text-only scholarship and models an accessible, multimodal approach to thinking and learning.

Unfurling Unflattening, edited by Amanda Latz, Darron Collins, and Andrea Kantrowitz, brings together 14 chapters by educators who have integrated Unflattening into first-year seminars to doctoral programs. Each of the chapters demonstrates how Sousanis' innovative scholarship has been used to inspire students to connect ideas across disciplines, embrace ambiguity, and interrogate the status quo.

The book addresses a pressing pedagogical need: how to cultivate complexity, adaptability, and creativity in the age of AI, cultural disruption, and shifting educational models. Contributors share examples of students making comics, translating concepts into dance and music, and applying Unflattening's principles to systemic change initiatives.

The collection bridges theory and practice, providing a roadmap for educators seeking to expand their repertoire beyond conventional, text-based approaches.

Contributors: Ashleigh N. Bingham, Carey Borkoski, Craig Carey, Darron Collins, Darnel Degand, Shawn Gilmore, Christian Gregory, Jessika O. Griffin, Megan K. Halpern, Sarah J. Heidt, Andrea Kantrowitz, Joshua Korenblat, Amanda O. Latz, Felicia Mart nez, Steven McAlpine, Andrea Rodriguez, Connie Stewart, Andrew M. Vosko, Justin Wigard, and Rebecca H. Williams.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262055937
• ISBN13: 9780262055932
• Release Date: December 2026
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 336 Pages