My work in promoting, facilitating and supporting anime and manga studies involves several different kinds of activities. I am one of the founders of the Anime and Manga Research Circle, an informal community of academics, students, industry professionals and fans interested in studying Japanese animation and comics, and a moderator of the AMRC mailing list. I have reviewed books on anime for the Anime News Network – and articles submitted for publication in the scholarly journal Transformative Works and Cultures. I have presented talks on anime and manga studies at conventions around the U.S. – Otakon, Anime Central, A-Kon, Anime Boston, Katsucon and others. But at least for now, what I think of as my main contribution to this area is as the organizer/producer of the annual Anime and Manga Studies Symposium, the track of academic presentations and panels that are a part of the programming at Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in the U.S.
The Call for Papers for this year’s Symposium is open through the end of the month – I have already seen several excellent submissions, and look forward to seeing more. And, since one of the goals I had in mind for this blog is to have it serve as a hub or central point for activities in the field of anime and manga studies, I am also happy to present the full schedules for the previous years:
2011 Anime and Manga Studies Symposium (video clips available)
Keynote speaker – Ian Condry (MIT)
Closing remarks – Lawrence Eng (founder, Anime and Manga Research Circle)
10 individual talks/presentations, 2 panel discussions. Speakers from 14 different universities, including the University of Texas, University of Hawaii, University of Oregon, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Riverside, Tulane University, California Lutheran University, University of Cambridge (UK).
Keynote speaker: Jeffrey Dym (California State University, Sarcramento)
10 individual talks/presentations, institutions represented included University of North Carolina, University of Southern California, UCLA, University of California, Berkeley, Newcastle University (UK), Leiden University (Netherlands)
Keynote speaker: Christopher Kuipers (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
10 individual talks, 2 guest lectures. Speakers from colleges/universities around the U.S., and, for the first time, Japan (Kansai Gaidai University)
Oh hey! I took the 2011 videos you posted. That Youtube channel is now defunct but I plan to record more of your panels next year in my own channel. You guys are 1 of my favorite things at AX. I even left feedback asking for more promotion of your block of programming.