Category: Call for Papers


Sep
2025

Call for Papers – Mechademia 2026 Conference: “Traversing Trans-Asian Imaginaries: Anime, Manga, and Media Cultures”

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

In a new paper just published in Theory, Culture & Society, Sharon Kinsella makes the point that “Japan and neighbouring Asian states are now conjoined in a transregional visual cultural symbolic language, with relatable though not identical cultural symbolic meanings, based around animation characters and computer games”

I would argue that over the last two or so decades, the discussion around Japanese popular culture in general has similarly shifted to where even something like Japanese animation is commonly addressed as a “transnational industry“. In fact, when the journal Mechademia originally launched in 2006, it had the specific – and perhaps somewhat narrow – subtitle “An Annual Forum for Anime, Manga and Fan Arts”. This subtitle was retained through the journal’s first ten volumes, but when Mechademia returned from a two-year hiatus in 2018, the focus was expanded to “the study of East Asian popular cultures, broadly conceived”.

And this expanded focus is now also what is behind the announcement for the Call for Papers for the 2026 Mechademia Conference – the first to be held in a specifically East Asian location!

Mechademia 2026
Traversing Trans-Asian Imaginaries: Anime, Manga, and Media Cultures
National University of Singapore
May 29-30, 2026

The main question around which the 2026 conference will be organized is “what does it mean to study anime, manga, and their associated media forms within and across Asian contexts?” To approach this question, Mechademia is now accepting papers, panels, and creative works on topic that relate to or involve Southeast Asia in general – and is welcoming submissions from scholars, graduate students, and industry professionals/practitioners.

All presentations must be in English, and unlike in previous years, there will not be a remote or online component. The keynote speaker for this year will be NUS Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology and Singapore Management University School of Social Sciences Visiting Fellow Dr. Beng Huat Chua.

Some potential areas to consider exploring for the conference can include:

  • Trans-Asian flows and circulations of anime, manga, and games
  • Comparative studies: Japanese, Korean, Chinese, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and global contexts
  • Gaming cultures and the regional e-sports scene
(more…)

Aug
2025

Call for Papers – Critical Paths in Manga Studies

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

InTO.MANGA – Critical Paths in Manga Studies
Torino, Italy
January 22-24, 2026

This fall, with two leading university presses each publishing a major new scholarly monograph (Manga: A New History of Japanese Comics by Eike Exner from Yale University Press and Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989 by Andrea Horbinski from University of California Press), it’s clear that manga studies as an academic field is continuing its rapid growth and development. And now, a different university has announced plans for what going may very well become a global center for the study of Japanese comics.

And now, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Modern Cultures at the University of Torino (Italy) has announced that in January, it will host the inaugural symposium InTO.MANGA – Critical Paths in Manga Studies, with a stated goal of establishing a forum for debate and discussion on manga as a “form” with particular narrative, visual, and cultural dimensions. The symposium will specifically recognize manga as complex objects, and will specifically welcome multidisciplinary approaches and perspectives grounded in fields such as:

  • posthuman studies
  • medical humanities
  • translation studies
  • narrative theory
  • platform studies (including interplays between manga and other kinds of media)

Participants are invited to submit proposals for individuals presentations of approximately 20 minutes in length (300 words) or complete panels with up to 4 speakers to info.intomanga@gmail.com.

The deadline for submissions is September 15, and speakers will be notified by September 30.

InTO.MANGA – Critical Paths in Manga Studies is partly funded by the Japan Foundation. The symposium organizing committee is composed of Dr. Jaqueline Berndt (Stockholm University, editor of last year’s The Cambridge Companion to Manga and Anime), Marta Fanasca (University of Bologna), Paolo La Marca (University of Catania), and Gianluca Coci, Edouardo Occhionero, Asuka Ozumi, and Anna Speccio (all University of Torino).

The full Call for Papers, with additional details, follows:

(more…)

Jun
2025

Call for Papers – Mechademia: Second Arc, 19.2 “Graphic Narratives”

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

English-language scholarly writing on Japanese comics is not something that just started last year – or five years ago – or ten. Fred Schodt’s Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga, the first book on the topic from a U.S. publisher, appeared in 1996 – and more than a decade earlier, he had already written Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics for Kodansha International. For that matter, already in the late 1970’s, The Journal of Popular Culture had published a paper about “Salaryman comics in Japan“, and the journal Youth & Society featured an article entitled Contemporary Japanese youth: Mass media communication that opened with the statement that “[C]omic books are both endemic and ubiquitous to contemporary Japanese society”.

It is also not an understatement to say that in the last several years years, English-language scholarly writing on Japanese comics has been booming. In 2022, Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History became the first book on Japanese comics to receive the Best Academic/Scholarly Work Eisner Award. This was followed by the publication of a comprehensive – and much-needed Manga: A Critical Guide – in my review, I called it a “the go-to book for anyone interested in the medium”. Then, last year, Cambridge University Press felt that it was time to add a Companion to Manga and Anime to the series of volumes of what it calls “authoritative guides, written by leading experts, offering lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics, and periods”. For that matter, later this year, two more major academic publishers are each bringing out a monograph – Yale University Press, with Manga: A New History of Japanese Comics, by Comics and the Origins of Manga author Eike Exner, and the University of California Press, with Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989, by historian and manga scholar Andrea Horbinski.

And beyond those, there is one more to look forward to. Mechademia: Second Arc, the premier scholarly journal with a focus on “studying objects and practices that have developed around media forms associated with Japan”, is now accepting submissions for a Graphic Narratives issue – scheduled for a Summer 2027 publication. Submissions for the issue are accepted through July 1. Its main goal will be to expand the range of scholarship of graphic narratives from Japan – as well as from other Asian countries/areas/regions – to emphasize attention to form and style, as well as “purpose”, rather than content alone.

(more…)

Jun
2025

Call for Papers – Mechademia: Second Arc, 19.1 “Semiosis/Symbiosis”

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

With the release of the new Summer 2025 Methodologies issue, Mechademia: Second Arc, the major “forum for studying objects and practices that have developed around media forms associated with Japan” is now approaching its twentieth anniversary (although publication was paused in 2016 and 2017). The twenty-three issues that have appeared since the journal first launched, in 2006, originally as Mechademia: An Annual Forum for Anime, Manga and Fan Arts, have hosted some of the most important scholarly writing on these topics that have appeared in English over this period – as well as translations of important Japanese scholarship, and even some original non-scholarly work. Mechademia can reasonably be considered the leading journal for the developing field of Japanese popular culture studies – and in fact, is becoming increasingly important as a venue for research on Asian popular culture more broadly.

The journal’s publication schedule is currently set through at least the Summer 2028 issue. As has been the practice so far, each issue is organized around a common general theme, whether somewhat specific or fairly abstract, and the themes for the next six are, in order:

  • Death and Other Endings (Winter 2025)
  • Studio Ghibli (Summer 2026)
  • Semiosis/Symbiosis (Winter 2026)
  • Graphic Narratives (Summer 2027)
  • Game Studies (Winter 2027)
  • Erotic Bodies – Hentai, BL, and Beyond (summer 2028)

The Death and Other Endings and Studio Ghibli issues are already in preparation. And the calls for papers for the next two – Semiosis/Symbiosis and Graphic Narratives – are currently open, with submissions accepted until July 1.

Call for Papers
Mechademia: Second Arc, Volume 19, Number 1 (Winter 2026)
Guest Editor: Vincenzo Idone Cassone (Tampere University)

This volume of Mechademia: Second Arc seeks essays that address how new meaning-making worldviews emerge out of the interaction between different forms of life, and how indeed, even popular media themselves are entangled and propagate these dynamics.

(more…)

Feb
2025

Call for Papers – AX 2025 Academic Symposium: Academics

categories: Anime and Manga Studies Symposium, Anime Expo, Announcements, Call for Papers

Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in the U.S., scheduled to run July 3-6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will again feature an Academic Program track of presentations and panel discussions, and the Call for Papers for it is now open.

Anime Expo 2025 “will be showcasing an Academia theme” – and although submissions for the Academic Program can address any topic or perspective, some particular angle to consider can include ways that anime and manga present or interpret knowledge and education, as well as classroom settings, specific educational/instructional uses of anime and manga, and tools, techniques, methodologies, and trends in anime/manga research.

For consideration, please submit the title of your paper, an abstract (150 words), and a short biographical statement to https://forms.gle/xeheZc48SfUmr2Sa8

Submission deadline: April 7.

All speakers will be offered complimentary registration to Anime Expo 2025.

Additional Details

The organizer of the 2025 Symposium is once again Billy Tringali, the editor of the Journal of Anime and Manga Studies.

[ed. note: I first proposed the Academic Program track and managed the program from 2012 through 2017. I am not otherwise involved in this year’s event.]


Feb
2025

Call for Papers – 2025 Queer and Feminist Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures Symposium

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

Building on the success of the inaugural Symposium, which ran from April 15 to April 17 of last year, and featured over 20 speakers and a range of presentations and panel discussions, scholars and practitioners from around the world are invited to submit papers that will explore topics related to intersections between Japanese popular cultures broadly defined and intersectional, trans-inclusive feminist studies. One of the specific goals of the symposium will be to explore points of convergence between race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, queerness, disability, class, and other similar characteristics. Some potential topics to explore can include:

  • Media theory examinations of gender
  • Trans-national consumptions of media
  • Expressions of gender and queerness on platforms
  • Subcultures, fan cultures, and alternative communities
  • Material cultures and practices

Abstracts must be in English, between 250 to 300 words, accompanied by a short biography, and sent to popculturesjapan@gmail.com.

Abstract submission deadline: March 21

The Symposium is currently being planned for mid-May, 2025, and will be held entirely online.

Additional details are available from the organizers (Aurélie Petit, Concordia University, and Megan Rose, UNSW Sydney), and at https://bsky.app/profile/aurelievpetit.bsky.social/post/3lincshwpws2w. This event is supported by the Media, Gender and Sexualities Study Group, University of Tokyo.


Jan
2025

Call for Papers – Journal of Anime and Manga Studies v. 6

categories: Call for Papers

After five volumes and almost 40 individual articles – all open-access – the Journal of Anime and Manga Studies has now firmly positioned itself as one of the most prominent publications in this young but vibrant and growing field. It has consistently welcomed a variety of perspectives and approaches, as well as a decidedly global line-up of authors. The most recent issue, just released on December 16, included papers as different as:

The Eye of the Dragon: Ecological Thinking in Delicious in Dungeon

Ballet Immemorial: Princess Tutu, Meta-Ballet, and the Fatal Significance of Gesture

and

Cosplay Collaboration Videos: Community Interactivity in Times of Pandemic

And now, JAMS looks to the future with the Call for Papers for this year’s volume.

JAMS welcomes papers regarding anime, manga, cosplay, and their fandoms as analyzed from any relevant scholarly perspective

There is no specified maximum word length, but in general, submissions average 6,500 to 8,000 words; shorter or longer submissions may be considered at the discretion of the journal’s editor.

Submission deadline: April 13, 2025

Expected publication: Late fall/Early winter.

Additional Details.


Apr
2024

Call for Papers – Mechademia: Second Arc, 18.2 “Studio Ghibli”

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

Japanese animation is many things. On the very first page of the excellent Anime: A Critical Introduction, animation scholar Rayna Denison uses the phrase “a shifting, sliding category of media production”, and further in the same book Dr. Denison also refers to anime as a “cultural phenomenon”. But outside Japan, and especially in Western media, Japanese animation is (still) often synonymous with the persona of Hayao Miyazaki and the films he has directed at Studio Ghibli. In fact, Jaqueline Berndt specifically points to this as one of the shortcomings in contemporary scholarly approaches to Japanese animation, writing that “Non-Japanese scholars tend to assume that [Hayao Miyazaki’s] movies are typical of anime as a whole because of their mere presence in Japan”.

But just because some of these assumptions may be incorrect, does not mean that all of them are. Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are the subjects of almost 20 English-language scholarly books, from Helen McCarthy’s Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation – Films, Themes, Artistry, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary later this year, to last year’s – and very different in scope and in tone Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History (also by Prof. Denison), as well as a full collection of essays on Princess Mononoke, and two different entries in the BFI Film Classics line of handbooks (on Grave of the Fireflies and on Spirited Away). Miyazaki and Ghibli have also been the subjects of a special section in the Journal of Ecocritical Humanities, and other essays discussing particular aspects of and approaches to Ghibli films, or comparing them to other works, such as non-Japanese animations – appear frequently in edited essay collections and peer-reviewed journals – an excellent recent example is Miyazaki’s monstrous mother: A study of Yubaba in Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, in a recent issue of Feminist Media Studies.

Now, it appears that plans are underway for another major contribution to Miyazaki/Ghibli studies, with a dedicated “Studio Ghibli” issue of Mechademia: Second Arc, set for a Summer 2026 publication date. Prof. Denison will serve as one of the editors, joined by Dr. Jaqueline Ristola (University of Bristol).

One of the goals of the issue will be to significantly expand the potential critical approaches to undertake in connection with Ghibli, such as “investigations into the studio’s wider politics, its industrial activities, and cultural impact in Japan and around the world”.

Papers for the issues can address topics such as:

  • New theoretical approaches to studying Hayao Miyazaki’s films
  • Analyses of Japanese academic approaches to Studio Ghibli
  • Sound and Studio Ghibli films
  • Studio Ghibli’s animation aesthetics – e.g. background art, CG aesthetics, hand-drawn animation
  • Studio Ghibli’s other directors (Isao Takahata, Yoshifumi Kondō, Gorō Miyazaki, Tomomi Mochizuki, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, etc.)
  • Producers at Studio Ghibli (Toshio Suzuki, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Eiko Tanaka, etc.)
  • Studio Ghibli CEOs/Leaders (Toshio Suzuki, Koji Hoshino, Yasuyoshi Tokuma, etc.)
  • Studio Ghibli’s below the line workers (animators, inbetweeners, colorists, etc.)
  • Studio Ghibli’s Art Museum and the Ghibli Park
  • Advertising, partnerships, sponsors and Studio Ghibli
  • Studio Ghibli’s environmental activism

Authors are invited to submit essays of between 5,000 and 7,000 words. The submission deadline for the issue is July 1, 2024.

Full details about the CFP are available on the Mechademia website.


Apr
2024

Call for Papers – Mechademia: Second Arc, 18.1 “Death and Other Endings”

categories: Announcements, Call for Papers

In the classic study Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation, Susan Napier identifies “the apocalyptic” as one of the three major “modes” of Japanese animation. But this is a relatively narrow approach – a much broader one would move to consider both East Asian popular culture products, expressions, and activities in general, and a more abstract idea of “endings”. And it it this approach that Mechademia: Second Arc is proposing for the upcoming Volume 18.1, currently set for publication in the Winter of 2025 with Prof. Anne Allison (Duke University) serving as the issue’s editor.

“Death and Other Endings” seeks papers that address the subject of endings of whatever kind, embedded in conditions of current times, and given a particular narrative, portrayal, or form in popular/media culture.

Some potential topics for the issue can include (the list is not exhaustive):

  • Technological imaginaries and/or development in end-of-life or postmortem care (robots, AI)
  • Surveillance and security apparati used to “end” various threats to public safety
  • Recovery or memorialization following national disasters (3.11 or others)
  • Global warming and/or environmental justice: effects of and activism around climate disaster
  • Shifts in life-stage and life-cycle: What are the “ends” driving social aspirations and lives today?
  • Temporality in an age of never-ending digitality and online connectedness
  • What do reports of sexlessness, disconnection, and solo sociality signal in terms of endings and /or beginnings of desire, sexuality, or relationality?
  • National borders, border-crossing, and (non)citizenship: What is the biopolitics of life, whose lives are valued (and whose is not), is there a necropolitics “ending” certain bodies?
  • How are apocalyptic, end-time or dystopic stories particular to Japan?
  • What has “ended” in the way of work, family, reproduction, and growth today, and is this ending something to mourn?

Authors are invited to submit essays of between 5,000 and 7,000 words. The submission deadline for the issue is July 1, 2024.

Full details about the CFP are available on the Mechademia website.


Apr
2024

Call for Papers – AX 2024 Academic Symposium: Edo Japan

categories: Anime and Manga Studies Symposium, Anime Expo, Call for Papers

Usually – and by their nature – academic conferences are not open to general, non-academic audiences, and for that matter, not really intended for them. But at the same time, nothing requires academic discussions to exclude the public, especially when members of the public may be interested in the same themes and topics that scholars are. And it is this understanding that lies at the heart of the Academic Program track at the Anime Expo convention, the largest in the U.S. I first proposed this track in 2011, and was its Executive Producer through 2017. And now, for 2024, the Academic Symposium is once again accepting submissions for papers with a “scholarly perspective on anime, manga, cosplay, and their fandoms”.

The theme of AX 2024 is Edo Japan, and authors are encouraged – but not required – to consider it. Proposals can address topics and subjects such as:

  • Japanese culture, past and present
  • Japanese festivals and holidays
  • Japan as Place, modern or historical
  • Performing artists like geisha
  • Histories of Japan, real or imagined

So, if you are studying a topic related to anime/manga, and want to share your research with a general, non-academic audience, here is your chance!

For consideration, submit a title, 150-word abstract, and short bio by the April 19 abstract submission deadline. All selected participants will be offered complimentary admission to AX.

Additional details (H-Net Network on Japanese History and Culture)