Please pass this around to fellow colleagues!


Mikhail Koulikov
[log in to unmask]


I am pleased to present the formal call for papers / call for panelists
for
the Anime and Manga Studies Symposium, to be held in conjunction with
this
year's Anime Expo convention in Los Angeles, CA, from July 1 to July 4.

If you are interested in participating as a roundtable discussion
speaker or
in presenting a paper, please contact me (Mikhail Koulikov,
[log in to unmask]) with your name, CV, and a brief 250-page abstract
or
summary of proposed arguments. The deadline for all submissions will be
May
18.

Also, you are welcome to forward this CFP to anyone else who may be
interested, and to share it on any other websites, blogs, mailing lists,
etc. A Word version of this CFP will be placed in the Attachments
folder,
and reposted on the Anime Expo website.

===

Call for Papers / Call for Speakers:

Anime Expo Anime and Manga Studies Symposium
(July 1 - July 4, Los Angeles, CA)

DEADLINE: May 18, 2011

The continuing popularity of Japanese comics and animation outside Japan
has
been a topic of interest to scholars across a wide range of disciplines,
fields and approaches. However, much of the English-language research
and
writing on anime and manga has taken place on an ad-hoc basis, and until
recently, there has been relatively little sense of a persistent
community
of anime/manga scholars.

Capitalizing on the growing prominence of scholarly approaches to
Japanese
popular culture, Anime Expo, the largest and most popular gathering for
fans
of Japanese visual culture in the U.S. will be hosting a track of themed
sessions exploring how anime and manga can have a place in scholarly
discussion. AX 2011 will be held from July 1 to July 4 at the Los
Angeles
Convention Center (Los Angeles, CA).

The track will present a unique opportunity for scholars at all levels
to
share their research and thinking directly with a general, non-academic
audience while also interacting with other academic speakers from across
a
range of disciplines. It will consist of three themed roundtable
discussions
and three sessions for individual papers.

Roundtable discussions

Roundtable session 1:
Theoretical perspectives on Japanese visual culture

The complex, complicated world of Japanese animation and comics yields
itself to many different approaches. Fairly straight-forward close
readings,
modes of analysis based in particular schools of thought, examinations
of
the roles of authors and creators, producers, distributors and the
global
audience all have a part in anime and manga studies

- How do anime/manga studies fit into existing theoretical approaches to
studying visual culture?
- What is the relationship between particular theoretical approaches and
the
kinds of questions that anime/manga scholars can ask?
- Are some modes of inquiry in anime/manga studies overused - and are
there
others that are underutilized?
- Does anime/manga studies in the U.S. differ markedly from how these
topics
are approached in Japan and elsewhere in the world?

Roundtable session 2:
Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli: Anime's contribution to world cinema

Hayao Miyazaki is likely the only anime creator to have achieved a
measure
of real worldwide recognition and acclaim. In many people's minds, his
films
are essentially synonymous with Japanese animation as a whole. Not
coincidentally, Miyazaki is also the anime director whose work has been
examined the most thoroughly and intensively by Western film, media and
animation scholars

- Common themes, issues and tropes in the works of Hayao Miyazaki: Their
meanings and purposes
- Why has Studio Ghibli achieved such an extraordinary degree of global
success?
- Miyazaki and commentary on relationships between the natural and human
worlds in contemporary Japan?
- "Anime because of, or in spite of Ghibli": What is the relationship
between Studio Ghibli and the rest of the Japanese animation industry?

Roundtable session 3:
Teaching, writing and thinking about anime/manga: New directions, new
opportunities.

Japanese animation and comics have been common in American high school
classes and college programs throughout the last decade, if not more.
"Teaching" anime and manga has unique challenges, but also a potentially
wide range of results and goals. For its own part, anime and manga
studies
is an emerging field that must win a place for itself in a disciplinary
landscape that is already crowded with fields, directions, and
approaches.

- How to introduce anime and manga into the classroom at all levels,
from
high school to graduate
- "Studying anime" vs. "anime studies": Does the field need a label, and
what does the label mean?
- Where does "anime studies" take place: Existing, new and prospective
areas
of research in Japanese visual culture?
- Where to next? The real and possible goals of scholarly approaches to
Japanese visual culture

The topics listed under each of the roundtable session titles are
suggested,
not exhaustive, and other approaches and views are welcome!

Individual papers

Speakers are invited to submit proposals for individual 20-minute paper
presentations on any topic related to Japanese comics and animation, the
anime/manga industry both in Japan and worldwide, and the global anime
and
manga fandom.

Some of the possible themes and topics can include:

- Close readings of particular individual anime and manga texts
- Specific reasons for the global popularity of anime and manga
- Relationships between anime/manga and other Japanese film and
literature
- Japanese animation and comics in historical perspective: anime and
manga
before Tezuka
- The role of the creator and director (and individual
creators/directors)
in the development of anime and manga
- Anime/manga promotion, marketing, international licensing and
distribution, translation and sales.
- The activities of anime/manga fans: Fanfiction, cosplay, anime music
videos, website development, etc.
- A global conversation with Japanese popular culture - Western uses of
anime and manga (Animatrix, Batman, Iron Man, Supernatural, etc.)
- Beyond anime and manga as we know them: Experimental and
non-mainstream
Japanese animation and comics
- Popular culture responds to reality: The Great Eastern Japan
Earthquake
and future directions in Japanese visual culture

To participate in one of the panel discussions, or to present an
individual
paper, please contact Mikhail Koulikov [contact information follows]
with
your name, and CV. Please provide a brief, 250-word explanation of your
viewpoint as a panelist or an abstract for your paper.

All entries must be received by May 18. All speakers will receive
complimentary admission to Anime Expo.

- Mikhail Koulikov
[log in to unmask]

Producer, AX Anime and Manga Studies Symposium
Editor, Online Bibliography of Anime and Manga Research
Co-Moderator, Anime and Manga Research Circle Mailing List