Teaching Business Ethics with Comic Books

ULAB School of Business took the initiative to conduct a seminar and workshop on business ethics which was unique in nature and to the best of knowledge first of its kind in Bangladesh. The event took place on July 27, 2015 in ULAB auditorium. Undergraduate students from ULAB School of Business and Media Studies and Journalism participated in the seminar and workshop. Graphic novels were used because gone are the days when comic books were considered as entertainment for kids only. Comic characters are now not just limited to books only but have also breathed a new life into whole genres of TV shows, movies, animations, computer games, etc. Moreover, they have secured places on t-shirts, mugs, caps, rucksacks, bed covers, pillow cases and what not. On June 12, 2015, Centre for Language Studies, ULAB had organised the very first national conference on "Embracing Graphicdemia: The Role of Graphic Novels and Comics in Academia." Following the tune, ULAB School of Business (USB) implemented the concept and held a seminar and workshop on "Teaching Business Ethics with Comic Books".

The seminar started with welcome note from Prof. William Derrenger, Dean, ULAB School of Business (USB). After that Prof. Imran Rahman, VC, ULAB shared his experience of having witnessed the practice of teaching with comics and graphic novels years back in the USA. Sajedul Haq, Assistant Prof. and Director, Center for Language Studies, ULAB gave his talk explaining the role and importance of comic studies/graphic novels in academia. The talk was followed by Tahseen Salman Choudhury, Director, Paricharja (a local NGO providing low-cost outdoor medical service) and a comic researcher. Many examples from the pages of international comics like DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dynamite Entertainment as well as the ones from the local publishers like Dhaka Comics and Mighty Punch Studios were used to identify the ethical dilemmas people faced in business situations. He ended the talk wishing the educated new-generation to make a change in the local business scenario and to practice ethical business practices. After the keynote presentation, Asifur Rahman,writer and artist from Dhaka Comics talked about the comic industry of Bangladesh and Dhaka Comics. The seminar ended with the talk by Samir Asran Rahman, Creative Director, Mighty Punch Studios where he shared his own experience in this industry and a short story on the journey of his studio. 

The workshop was conducted in the second part of the event. Students were divided into groups and were instructed to identify ethical issues in business in the context of Bangladesh and create a comic story about it. With the guidance from the guest speakers, the students were successful in creating interesting comic stories where they talked about the use of cow-fattening tablets to boost the sale of cows, the use of formalin in fruits and selling unsafe products by hiding information from the consumers, the overall practice of bribing across different industries and many other similar examples. The comic stories were displayed and Prof. Jahirul Haque, Pro-VC, ULAB handed over certificates and awards to the best three teams for their comic stories about business ethics. The event ended with a vote of thanks.

The writer is Lecturer and Assistant Proctor, ULAB.