EDUCATION:
Expected 2026 PhD History, The Ohio State University
2018 MSt Women’s Studies, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
2016 AB History, The University of California, Davis, CA, Highest Honors
Masters Dissertation: “‘The Treasure of Love’: Romance Comic Books and the Construction of Gender Roles in Post-War UK,” University of Oxford, UK, 2018. Supervisor, Christina de Bellaigue.
Undergraduate Honors Thesis: “Romance Comic Books and Magazines: The Cold War, Anti-Feminism, and Teaching Women Their Place,” University of California, Davis, 2016. Supervisor, Kathryn Olmsted. Highest Honors.
Funding, Awards, and Honors:
- Swann Foundation Fellowship, the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, the Library of Congress, 2023.
- Shortlisted The Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) award for outstanding health-related comic projects completed and/or published in 2022 for short form comics.
- The Genevieve Brown Gist Award for 2023-2024.
- The Genevieve Brown Gist Award for 2022-2023.
- The 2020 Comic Studies Society Article Prize.
- Distinguished University Fellowship, the Ohio State University, 2020-2021.
Positions Held:
- Social Media Manager, for Picturing Black History and Origins OSU, 2023-2025.
- Teaching Assistant, History 3016, Contemporary US 1960-Present, for Bart Elmore, Spring 2023.
- Teaching Assistant, History 3706, US Business & Environment, for Bart Elmore, Autumn 2022
- Teaching Assistant, History 2065, Colonialism Film, Margaret Newell, Spring 2022.
- Teaching Assistant, History 3580, Vietnam War, Joe Parrot, Autumn 2021.
Academic Services:
- Peer Reviewer for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 2023-2024.
- Programming Committee Member, Cartoons Crossroads Columbus (CXC), 2021-2024.
- Chair for Hillary Chute Graduate Award Committee, the Comics Studies Society, 2021-2022.
- Interim Vice President, Graduate Student Caucus for the Comics Studies Society, 2021-2022.
- Member-at Large Graduate Student Caucus for the Comics Studies Society, 2020-2022.
- Student Representative, Steering Committee for MSt in Women’s Studies, University of Oxford, 2017-2018.
- Women’s Representative, St. Edmund Hall, the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 2017- 2018.
- Organizer and Chair, the University of Oxford Empowerment and Struggle in Women’s Education Round Table Discussion, Hillary Term, 2018.
- Organizer and Co-Chair, University of Oxford Feminist Thinking Seminar Series, Hillary Term, 2018
Journal Articles:
- Heifler, Sydney. “Romance Comics, Dangerous Girls, and The Importance of Fathers,” in Sexuality and Mental Illness in Comics, a special edition of Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, edited by Nancy Pedri and Irene Velentzas, May 26, 2020 (online).
- Heifler, Sydney. “Teen-Age Temptations: Romance Comic Books and Condemning Precocity.” Prized Writing, September 2016.
Popular Scholarship:
- “A Sartorial Life: A Conversation about Fashion, Clothes, and Comics with Trina Robbins,” Women Write About Comics, March 12, 2024.
- “Women’s History Month: Trina Robbins,” on Comfort Food Comics, March 31, 2021.
- “A History of Romance,” PanelxPanel, no. 36, June 24, 2020.
- “Comic books v. ‘Women’s Lib,’” on Re-reading the Second Wave, March 2018.
- “Romance Comic Books, the Cold War, and Teaching Women Their Place” on Ex Aula: Research From the Hall, March 2018.
Reviews:
- “Brunet, Peyton and Blair Davis. Comic Book Women: Characters, Creators, and Culture in the Golden Age.” Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, Summer 2023.
- “Review: Return to Romance.” Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 2020.
Comics:
- “Trapped.” In Won’t Back Down. Edited by Trina Robbins. Published by Last Gasp, 2024.
- “How I Leave You.” In “Embodying Feminist Discourse in Comics & Graphic Novels.” Edited by Laura Antola, Ariel Kahn, and Houman Sadri. Special issue, MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture. Spring 2023.
- “Let Me out of Here: A Story of Using Comics to Heal During the Pandemic.” Edited by Jeanette D’Arcy and Kay Sohin. In “Comics in and of The Moment.” Special Issue, The Comics Grid. Spring 2022. https://doi.org/10.16995/cg.6545.
Invited Talks, Lectures, and Panels:
- Special Guest, April 21-24, 2022. San Diego Comic Fest. Participated and moderated six panels on comic book history.
- Grad Student Panelist, March 1, 2022. 2022 Will Eisner Week Scholarly Symposium. Virtual Grad Scholar Panel at Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum with Morgan Podraza and Roland Rubalcava.
- Panelist, February 18, 2021. Pop Culture Panel Series: Romance in Graphic Novels & Comics, Virtual Panel at the Escondido Public Library with Steve Ammidown, Johnnie Christmas, and Sarah Kuhn.
- Virtual Chat with the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center, Aug 30, 2020. I discussed the origin and the legacy with the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center as part of their “3 Days for 103” event, which celebrated what would have been the 103rd birthday of Jack Kirby.
- Heifler, Sydney. “‘Half-Way to Heaven’: Romance Comic Books and the Construction of Gender in Post-War UK.” Micro-talk for True Colours: Micro Talks. Organized for Oxford Pride Week by the Equality and Diversity Unit, University of Oxford, May 29, 2018.
- Keynote Speaker, OxCon III, April 21, 2018.
- Guest Speaker, Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS), September 14, 2017.
Panels and Presentations:
- “Comics Create History: Constructing The Romance of York through Comics Making.” Poster Presented with Hannah Keller for the 2023 Comic Arts Conference at San Diego Comic Con International. July 2023.
- “Drawing to Heal: Building a Gendered Vocabulary in Autobiographical Comics to Capture Personal Experience.” Lightening Talk Presented at Graphic Medicine at Toronto University. July 2023.
- “Drawing to Heal: Building a Gendered Vocabulary in Autobiographical Comics to Capture Personal Experience.” Paper presented for the London Arts-Based Research Center’s Women Who Create; The Feminine and The Arts Conference at Cambridge University, March 25-26. Presented online.
- “Social Shame and Private Guilt: Building a Gendered Vocabulary in Autobiographical Comics to Capture Personal Experience.” Paper is part of a group panel, Gender Crises in Past and Present: Grappling with Shame and Identity during Times of Upheaval, with Victoria Paige, Hanna Keller, and John Rockford for the Social Sciences History Association Annual Meeting in Chicago November 19, 2022.
- “From Mopsy to Trina, Mid-Century Fashion in Comics and Its Legacy.” Round Table discussion with Trina Robbins and Michael Dooley for the Comic Arts Conference at San Diego Comic-Con International, July, 2022. (Postponed from July, 2021).
- “Even Love Dies: Re-imagining the Post-War Infatuation with Romance Comics.” Paper presented for the Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum, March 4, 2022.
- “Visualizing Female Independence: Romance Comic Books and the Dangers of ‘Women’s Lib.’” Paper is part of a group panel, Imagining the Twentieth Century through Visual Culture: Media, Legacy, and the Historical Narrative, for the American Historical Association’s annual meeting in New Orleans, February 25, 2022. Virtual.
- Organizer and Panelist. Heifler, Sydney. “Best Practices in Interdisciplinarity.” The Graduate Student Caucus’ Roundtable with Lauren Chivington, Rachel Miller, Zach Rondinelli, Maite Urcaregui, and Chair Andrew J. Kunka. The Fourth Annual Comics Studies Society Conference, August 6, 2021. Virtual.
- “Seduction on the Page: Matt Baker, the Female Form, and a Celebration of Masculinity.” Paper presented as part of a group panel with Michael Dooley and Jim Thompson, The Comic Art of Seduction for the Comic Arts Conference at WonderCon@Home, March 27, 2021. Virtual.
- Chair and Panelist. “Fashion, Bodies, and Sex: Girls’ Comics and the Construction of the Teenage Girl.” Round Table discussion with Trina Robbins and Joan Ormrod for the MSU Comics Forum, February 27, 2021. Virtual.
- “Illustrating the Patriarchy: Usurping Masculine Power in a World of Romance, Red Dresses, and Spanking,” Paper presented for the 2020 International Comic Arts Forum at SPX on September 11-13, 2020. Conference cancelled.
- “Designing Van Dyne: The Wasp, Fashion, and an Excess of Femininity.” Paper presented with Monica Geraffo for the Michigan State University Comics Forum on February 21-22, 2020.
- “Masculine Memory in the Creation of a National History: Fandom and the Historiography of Western Comics through a Case Study of Romance Comics.” Paper presented for the Comic Arts Conference at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 18-21, 2019.
- “They Must Be Contained: Romance Comics, Cars, and the Dangers of Independent Teenage Girls.” Paper presented via Skype for the Comics & Travel Conference for the Oxford Comics Network, July 5, 2019.
- “Cultural Enforcement of the Patriarchal Structure.” Paper presented as part of a group panel, Structural Supervillains: Patriarchy, Capitalism, Surveillance and Imperialism in Batman’s World for the Batman in Popular Culture Conference at Bowling Green State University, April 12-13, 2019.
- “Paternalism, Infantilism and the Ideal Couple: Romance Comics and the Post-War British Notion of Masculinity and Femininity.” Paper presented as part of a group panel, Comics in the Global Marketplace for the Comic Arts Conference at WonderCon on March 29-31, 2019.
- “Dangerous Love: Violence, Gender, and Race in UK Post-War Romance Comics.” Paper presented for the Michigan State University Comics Forum on February 22-23, 2019.
- “From Romance Comics to X-Men: The Psycho- Symbolism of Fashion and Female Sexuality in Cold War Comics.” Paper presented with Monica Geraffo for the Michigan State University Comics Forum on February 22-23, 2019.
- “Love and the Myth of Female Independence: Romance Comic Books and the Dangers of “Women’s Lib.” Poster presentation at the Comic Arts Conference at San Diego Comic-Con International on July 18-22, 2018.
- “‘Half-Way to Heaven’: Romance Comic Books and the Construction of Gender in Post-War UK.” Paper presented for CGIS-University of Glasgow Summer School 2018 on June 6, 2018.
Public Talks:
- Organizer and Panelist. “Talk & Teach: Comics Scholars Roundtable” with Morgan Podraza and Natalia Colon Alvarez, and moderated by Andy Kunka for 2023’s Cartoons Crossroads Columbus, September 28, 2023.
- Organizer and Panelist. “Who Says Romance is Dead? A Look at The Past, Present, and Future of Romance Comics.” Roundtable with Trina Robbins and Bruce Simon. Moderated by Fantastic Frankey for San Diego Comic-Con International, July 22, 2023.
- Organizer and Moderator. “Play & Passion: Erotica by Women.” Roundtable with Bruce Simon, Jessica Tswana, Jim Thompson, and Kim Munson for San Diego Comic-Con International, July 21, 2023.
- Panelist. “Won’t Back Down Preview: Comics for Reproductive Rights.” Roundtable with Trina Robbins, Dani Colman, Tony Parker, Lee Marrs, and Barbara Randall Kesel. Moderated by Sarah Miles for San Diego Comic-Con International, July 21, 2023.
- Panelist. “Jack Kirby, but Not Superheroes.” Roundtable with Bruce Simon, Mark Badger, John Morrow, and Tracy Kirby. Moderated by Rand Hoppe and Tom Kraft for San Diego Comic-Con International, July 20, 2023.
- Organizer and Moderator. “Wimmin’s Comix Turns 50: A Celebration of the Comic and its Legacy.” Interview with Trina Robbins and Lee Marrs for 2022’s Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, October 7,2022.
- Organizer and Panelist. “Erotic Comics Part I.” Round Table discussion with Trina Robbins, Danny Fingeroth, Maggie Thompson, and Amanda Conner. Moderated by Michael Dooley for San Diego Comic-Con International, July 2022.
- Organizer and Moderator. “What Were Romance Comics.” Round Table discussion with Trina Robbins for San Diego Comic Fest, April 22, 2022.
- Organizer and Panelist. “Romance Comics, Witches, and the Comic Code Authority.” Round Table discussion Jim Thompson and Elizabeth Pollard for San Diego Comic Fest, April 22, 2022.
- Organizer and Moderator. “Spotlight on Trina Robbins: 50 Years of Wimmin’s Comix.” Discussion with Trina Robbins for San Diego Comic Fest, April 23, 2022.
- Organizer and Panelist. “Romance Comics and The Greats.” Round Table discussion with Rand Hoppe for San Diego Comic Fest, April 23, 22.
- Organizer and Moderator. “Exploring Queer Expression in Comics Studies: The Graduate Student Experience.” Roundtable discussion with Lauren Chivington, D’Arcee Neal, Rolando Rubalcava, and Katlin Marisol Sweeney-Romero. Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2021, September 30, 2021.
- Organizer and Moderator. “Life Underground: a Discussion about Comix With Roberta Gregory, Trina Robbins, and Robert Triptow.” Roundtable discussion with Roberta Gregory, Trina Robbins, and Robert Triptow. Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2021, October 3, 2021. Virtual.
- “Romance Comics: Love, Sexism and the Red Scare during the Cold War.” Presentation for the East Bay Comic Con on February 11, 2019.