The End of “Cool” Japan?: Ethical, Legal, Political and Cultural Challenges for Japanese Popular Culture Teachers, Researchers and Students
Organizers: University of Michigan Department of Screen Arts & Cultures and Center for Japanese Studies
Location: University of Michigan, North Quad Space 2435 (Ann Arbor, MI)
Date: April 5, 2014
This workshop addresses some pressing concerns for all those with an investment in teaching and learning about Japan via its popular culture. It brings together Japan specialists, both educators and researchers, in order to identify key challenges in research and pedagogy and to develop a framework for a code of ethics that can serve as a guideline for Japan Studies professionals.
Schedule:
9.30 – Welcome
Markus Nornes
9.45-10.30 – Opening Address
- Ethical and legal Issues in teaching Japanese popular culture to undergraduate students
Mark McLelland (Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies, University of Wollongong)
10.30-10:45 – Coffee
10.45-12.00 – Panel One: Negotiating Student Expectations
Laura Miller (Ei’ichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Endowed Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Anthropology, University of Missouri-St. Louis)
- Student sensibilities and gatekeeper protests: Teaching and presenting research on unwelcome Japan studies topics
Alisa Freedman (Associate Professor of Japanese Literature and Film, University of Oregon)
- Death Note and crimes in the classroom: Issues in teaching Japanese popular culture to the Ne(x)t Generation
12.00-1.00 Lunch
1.00-3.00 Panel Two: Sex and Violence In and Beyond the Classroom
Sabine Fruhstuck (Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara)
- “Every picture tells a lie:” Teaching the popular culture of sexuality and violence
Kirsten Cather (Associate Professor of Asian Studies, University of Texas, Austin)
- Trying obscene manga in the courtroom and classroom: Ethical and legal issues in teaching Japanese popular culture to undergraduate students
Patrick Galbraith (Ph.D. candidate, Cultural Anthropology, Duke University)
- Is there room for lolicon in Cool Japan?
3.00-3.15 – Coffee
3.15-4.00 – Future Directions: “The End of Cool Japan?” Roundtable Discussion
[Full Program Brochure forthcoming]