March 13, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic spreads around the world. Taking this event as the starting point for her reflections, Juliet Fall sets out with her family by bicycle to retrace the physical traces of the border separating France and the Canton of Geneva, step by step, following the border stones and boundary markers. This graphic essay is the result of a new kind of social research, which moves away from academic standards, giving as much space to words as to images.

It transforms the study of borders into an immersive visual and intellectual experience, revealing how boundaries are drawn and lived. Part travelogue, part scholarly inquiry, Along the Line reimagines the study of borders through the lens of lived experience and graphic storytelling. Beginning with the COVID-19 border closures of 2020, Juliet Fall embarks on a three-year journey tracing part of the boundary between France and Switzerland, uncovering the deep historical and personal significance of these invisible lines.

Through the author’s own vivid sketches and a political geography perspective, this work confronts conventional academic narratives and demonstrates how borders shape both landscapes and lives. Through a blend of theory with immersive storytelling, Fall invites readers to slow down, observe, and rethink their understanding of space, mobility, and belonging. Along the Line is a groundbreaking contribution to border studies, political geography, and international relations, and also a powerful example of how creative and visual methods can transform academic research.

---

Note: The publication was partly funded by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation 10BP12_229695

Affiliation entities: Faculté des sciences de la société / Département de géographie et environnement

Citation (ISO format): FALL, Juliet Jane. Along the line. Writing with comics and graphic narrative in geography. Lausanne : EPFL Press, 2025. doi: 10.55430/6817atljfa01