We sure are! Comic books and graphic novels are everywhere. From movies and TV to libraries and classrooms, contemporary comics are trampling the tired adage that “comics are for kids,” revealing themselves to be capable of serious artistic reflection and escapist possibilities. Join us on Sat., Oct. 17, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., British Studies Room, 5th flr Norlin for this exciting session, where some of the finest comics educators in the English Dept. will walk you through the history of comics and the medium’s place within higher education.

Curators affiliated with the Media Archaeology Lab will provide a tour and demonstrations of old but still functioning media, from a hand-crank Edison phonograph player from 1912, a switch-based computer from 1976, to game consoles from the 1980s. Come live history and imagine how things could have been and still could be otherwise. Hosts: May Livio, Aaron Angello. Friday, Oct. 16, 4 to 6 p.m.; 1320 Grandview Ave. english.colorado.edu/2015-english-homecoming-events/

The hit TV show, Breaking Bad, has tantalized viewers from its inception with its stark story line, riveting dramatic scenes and fascinating characters. It is, in short, great literature alive on the screen. On Friday, Oct. 16, 2 to 3 p.m. in the British Studies Room, Norlin Library 5th floor, join Prof. Richelle Munkhoff and some of her previous students in a lively discussion about the literary allusions in the show. http://english.colorado.edu/2015-english-homecoming-events/

Cash, convenience, competitive prices and we will buy it no matter where you bought it. The CU Book Store will be buying textbooks Dec. 14-21 at the store in the UMC and locations throughout campus. Download our free sell books ap for iPhone or Android for an instant price quote. Search for "University of Colorado" in either app store. See website for hours, locations and sellback prices. You can also return your rental textbooks to any of our sellback locations.

The 18th annual open house, is Thursday, Dec. 3, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Refreshments will be served, enter to win prizes and you can make your own ornament! Best of all receive 20 percent off your entire purchase! (Restrictions apply, see store for details).

Join Valerio Ferme, professor of Italian and associate dean for the arts and humanities, for a talk exploring the humanities through the work of Italy’s “three crowns,” Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and showing how the values that they made central to their writings continue to engage us today, in an age that seems so distant and different from their own. Saturday, Oct. 10, 1 to 3 p.m., Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, Butcher Auditorium. Part of CU on the Weekend, which is free and open to the public.

Join Professor Gabriela Mangano, a distinguished lecturer with the Association for Women Geoscientists, as she discusses some of her findings on very early Cambrian faunas and the trace-fossil record of the Cambrian explosion. Mangano will explain the geoscience of collecting trace-fossil evidence and show how ancient organisms moved around in their habitat over 500 million years ago. This free lecture will be held at the CU Museum of Natural History on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in conjunction with the Steps in Stone, Walking through Time exhibit.

Join Carlos Ausejo and Preston Sowell at the CU Museum of Natural History on Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. as part of the free AIA Lecture Series as they present findings from their 2015 archaeological land and underwater reconnaissance expedition to Laguna Sibinacocha, located at 16,000 ft. in the cordillera Vilcanota range of southern Peru. Explore pre-Hispanic artifacts and architectural features that were in use from pre-ceramic to colonial times including utilized rock shelters and a possible burial site.

The Center for Humanities and the Arts invites you to this month’s Performance Friday! featuring members of the cast and orchestra of CU Opera’s production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella). Full of upbeat humor and containing some of Rossini’s greatest writing for solo voice and ensembles, the beloved story of a scullery-girl-turned-princess appeals to audiences of all ages. Please join us Oct. 16, from 12 to 1 p.m., Imig Music Building, room E160. Lunch will be served from 11:15 to 11:50 a.m. in C113.

Spend three weeks with CU-Boulder’s Suzanne Magnanini in Italy, exploring Florence’s historic streets. Learn about Dante, his Inferno, paintings and frescoes inspired by the poem. The course fulfills upper-division literature & the arts core and counts toward the Italian major and minor. You don't have to know Italian, and you could spend part of your summer studying in Italy. Come learn more in the C4C from 5 to 6 p.m. in room N215 on Oct. 29, or from 5 to 6 p.m. in room S484 on Nov. 10. See you there! (Photo by Devon Harger).