Nele Noppe's List: Let's Manga list

 Proposed Panel for SCMS Conference, Los Angeles, March 17-21
 The Artificial Life of Film: Dolls, Puppets, Automata, and Cyborgs in Cinema

 Organizer Names:
 Deborah Levitt, Assistant Professor, Culture and Media Studies,
 Eugene Lang College, The New School
 Allison de Fren, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow,  Ammerman Center for
 Arts & Technology, Connecticut College

 Summary: From the early films of Georges Méliès, Fritz Lang, and the
 Surrealist movement to Blade Runner, Being John Malkovich, Ghost in
 the Shell, and Lars and the Real Girl, the cinema has had an enduring
 fascination with artificial humans due to their unique ability to
 picture the tensions between motion and stasis, animation and
 inanimation, humanity and artificiality, the real and the virtual,
 and the vital and the mechanical. Artificial bodies have also made
 diverse appearances in film theory, from the "spiritual automaton"of
 Gilles Deleuze to Roland Barthes' meditations on a cinematic
 automaton in Camera Lucida to the broad field of reflections on
 cyborgs and/in cinema. This panel seeks to interrogate any or all of
 these conjugations of cinema and artificial lives — material and
 philosophical, live action or animated, in fiction or documentary. We
 are interested in the kinds of performativities engendered by these
 ambivalent bodies: their uncanniness, their ontological
 destabilizations, their epistemological games of masking and
 unmasking. Papers might also consider how artificiality is mobilized
 within particular genres or what kinds of meanings accumulate around
 artificial bodies in relation to gender or race. We are interested in
 how these figures help to construct a new genealogy of audiovisual
 culture, one that could illuminate cinema's digital or animatic
 present and future, as well as connections to various moments in the
 historical long durée of dolls, puppets, and automata.

 Please send an abstract of up to 300 words, five key references, and
 a brief bio to levittd@newschool.edu and adefren@conncoll.edu by
 August 10th.

IBBY UK/NCRCL MA CONFERENCE, 14 NOVEMBER 2009 Roehampton University, London - Call for Papers

The theme this year is Comics and Graphic Novels.

Graphic novels are becoming increasingly popular and diverse in the UK and have been highly valued in many countries, notably France, Belgium and Japan, for many years. The 2009 IBBY UK/NCRCL MA conference will explore the developing interest in this medium from a variety of perspectives, in addition to considering developments in the range and
content of comics available to children and young people.

The conference will include keynote presentations by well-known writers, publishers and academics. Proposals are welcomed for workshop sessions (lasting about 20 minutes) on the following or other relevant issues:

International perspectives – comics and graphic novels in a particular culture and/or across cultures
Comics from a contemporary or historical perspective. Has the number and range of comics declined and, if so, why?
Manga - its origins in Japan and developments and adaptations in other cultures
New literacies – the changing interface between visual images and text
Links between media – computer games, films, internet comics, character toys
Animations and cartoons
The work of individual and collective creators of comics and graphic novels. What collaborations are involved in the production of a graphic novel? Is the author a major or minor player in the design of a graphic novel?
Use of artistic styles – colour/black and white artwork/photography/fonts and typography. What are the technical complexities of producing comics and graphic novels?
Engagement of children and young people with/through this medium. Is there a particular appeal to the `reluctant' reader?
Gendered reading. Do comics and graphic novels have more appeal to male readers?
Controversial issues/taboo subjects – the notion of `appropriate' material for
What is the appeal of a graphic novel as against an illustrated book? How do picture books compare in popularity with graphic novels for a younger age group?

We welcome contributions from interested academics and others. of these areas. Brief accounts of the papers that are presented at the conference will be published in the Spring 2010 issue of IBBYLink, the journal of British IBBY. Also we hope that the proceedings of the conference will be published later that year in full in book form.

The deadline for proposals is 20 July 2009. Please email a 200-word abstract (for a 20-minute paper) as an attached Word document to Pat Pinsent and also contact her if your require any further information on this call for papers. Please also include a short biography and affiliation.

Pat Pinsent, 23 Burcott Road, Purley, CR8 4AD.
Tel: (020) 8668 4093.
Email: patpinsent@aol.com

The IBBY has just opened the CFP for its September 2010 conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The theme is "The Strength of Minorities". Details here:

http://www.ibbycompostela2010.org/

Topics

Children's and young people's literature: a minority area within the literature arena
Despite the high quality and notable presence of children's book editions and the general growth of literature, they still hold a minority status in the eyes of editors, writers and the media, generally. Why are we writing or illustrating for children in these conditions?

Children's and young people's literature in minority languages: from difference to survival
Literature written in minority languages invariably face a wide set of challenges. Its survival is dependent on factors such as socio-political context, the extent of the official status bestowed on them and the general public response to cultural and linguistic diversity. Children's books can contribute towards the standardization of the edition in minority languages. However, publishers targeting a reduced market undoubtedly encounter many difficulties.

Readers in a minority situation
Children and young people with disabilities or special needs usually encounter many obstacles with regards to access to books or the pleasure of reading. We must find solutions to help combat these difficulties.

A readership bereft of childhood
Books and reading matter are generally considered staples for intellectual and cultural development and the growth of the youngest members of society. However, not all children have easy access to books. How do we broach the subject of books and reading material with those readers who missed out on their childhood: exploited children
and those without even enough to eat?

I am a reading girl, you are a reading boy...
Do we still need children's literature which takes into account the gender issue? How do we tackle questions relating to sexual orientation and the rights of sexual minorities within children's books?

Globalizing diversity and tolerance through children's books
The 21st century must ensure the survival of minorities on the road to a better future. Diversity and tolerance - which are vital for a fairer world - must respectively make inroads in relation to minority groups.

Open Call for Applications for Full-time Position: Comparative Culture
Institution: Saitama University
Institution URL: http://www.saitama-u.ac.jp/
Department: Faculty of Liberal Arts
Institution type: National University

Content of Work: The successful applicant will teach four 90-minute undergraduate classes per week and one 90-minute graduate seminar per week, and perform the administrative duties required of full-time faculty. Classes will deal with comparative culture (Japanese and a second culture). The primary language of instruction will be English.

Research field: Human Science and Comparative Culture

              Japanese Culture with a focus on Visual Studies, Film Studies, or Media Studies.

Job type: Assistant Professor (Lecturer) or Associate Professor
Rank: Full-time tenured position with mandatory retirement at age 65; Assistant Professor: Full-time tenure-track position with 5-year term limit (one renewal possible; tenure comes with promotion to associate professor).
Work area: Kanto district ? Saitama
Address:  Saitama University, Faculty of Liberal Arts

255 Shimo-okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama-ken, 338-8570 Japan

Number of positions: 1
Qualifications:
 1. Native or near-native level of fluency in English.
 2. Ph.D. in the relevant field (advanced Ph.D. Candidates also may apply).
 3. Japanese language reading and speaking skills.
 4. Experience teaching in English to Japanese college-level students is preferable.
Salary & Benefits: This position carries the standard benefits package, including salary, research funds, and pension available to regular faculty at a national university.
Deadline for applications: 2009 / 7 /10 - 2009 / 9 /25
Starting date: 2010/04/01
Application materials: mail the following to the Faculty of Liberal Arts:

1. Detailed CV including research publications, research presentations, and teaching experience.

2. Two letters of recommendation.
3. Copy of Ph.D. diploma (if applicable).
4. Three representative publications (in either English or Japanese)
5. Outline of future research plans (around 1000 words).
6. Statement of your views on education (around 1000 words).

Contact: Selection Committee for the HSCC Professor (sc-hscc@gr.saitama-u.ac.jp)

Additional information: Personal Information accompanying submitted application materials will be used only for selection and employment purposes. Materials submitted with application will not be returned. Saitama University is an equal opportunity employer.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Title: From an Intercultural Crossover to a Transcultural Phenomenon: Manga,
Comic, Graphic Novel

International Conference at the Cultural Institute of Japan, Cologne (Japanisches
Kulturinstitut Köln, The Japan Foundation), September 30 – October 2, 2010, in
cooperation with CITS (Center for Inter- and Transcultural Studies, University of
Cologne)

Manga, comics and graphic novels are shaped by different cultural codes and shifting
visual and narrative conventions. This conference focuses on the historical
development and theoretical aspects of comics and manga by stressing their mutual
influences. Whereas European and North American art and popular culture exert a
great impact on Japanese manga, such as the Franco-Belgian tradition of “ligne
claire” on Ōtomo Katsuhiro and Taniguchi Jirō, Walt Disney’s animated films on
Tezuka Ōsamu and Christian and Antique ideas on Miyazaki Hayao, Japanese
manga influence the concept and visual conventions of modern European and
American comics as well, as can be seen in the work by Frédéric Boilet, Moebius,
and Frank Miller, among others. Moreover, the intercultural exchange between the
Japanese manga tradition and equivalent forms of sequential art in other Asian
countries (i.e. China, India, and Korea) largely contributes to the dissemination of
new hybrid art forms in the realm of comics and manga.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together scholars and other experts of
different countries and different fields, i.e. literary studies, picture theory, cultural
studies, linguistics, narratology, film studies, and semiotics, who pursue different
areas of investigation in this field. In order to adhere to a general outline for this
conference, the papers might deal with one or several of the following topics:
• Intermedial, intercultural and narrative perspectives for the interpretation of the
graphic novel and other genres of sequential art prominent in both comics and manga
• Comparative analysis of the construction of time and setting in comics and manga
• The functions of color in comics and manga
• Similarities and differences between Japanese and other Asian manga and
European and North American comics
• Impact of wordless comics and manga
• Historical development of the mutual influence of comics and manga
• Change of the conventional verbal signs (such as speech balloons, sound
effects, typography)
• Influence of films and cinematic style on the production of comics and manga
• Influence of visual codes derived from art history and popular culture in order
to create an individual artistic style

Contributions from academics and experts interested in any of these areas and in
international perspectives are particularly welcome. There are plans to publishing the
proceedings of the conference afterwards in book form.

The deadline for proposals is: *31 August 2009*.

Please email a 300 word abstract (for a thirty minute paper, followed by 15 minutes
for discussion) and a short biography as an attached word document to
Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer at: bettina.kuemmerling@t-online.de and
Franziska Ehmcke
at: amm07@uni-koeln.de

Notification of the acceptance of proposals will be made by 30 September 2009.
The conference fee will be 120 Euro, including catering, technical equipment,
conference folders and various arrangements.

The conference venue is located in the Cultural Institute of Japan, not far from the
University of Cologne. For details, go to www.jki.de (text in German and Japanese).

For further inquiries contact the conference convenors:

Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer
Universität zu Köln
Institut für deutsche Sprache und Literatur II
Gronewaldstr. 2
50931 Köln
Germany

E-Mail: bettina.kuemmerling@t-online.de


Franziska Ehmcke
Universität zu Köln
Ostasiatisches Seminar (Japanologie)
Albertus Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln
Germany

E-Mail: amm07@uni-koeln.de

Workshop on Popular Culture, Cultural Policy, and Cultural Discourse
in East and Southeast Asia, June 1-2, 2009, the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem

The workshop on Popular Culture, Cultural Policy, and Cultural
Discourse in East and Southeast Asia, will be held at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Israel. The purpose of this workshop is to
conduct a comparative and multi-sited study of the emergence of the
popular cultural industries of East and Southeast Asia, examine the
corresponding cultural policies initiated by the various states in the
region, and construct an empirically-plausible framework to examine
related issues. The workshop will particularly focus on the cases of
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean poplar cultures: their emergence,
expansion to other markets in the region, and the discourse they
create.

Panel 1: Popular Culture, Regionalization, and the State
1. Amitav Acharya, American University,
"Culture, Regionalism and Southeast Asian Identity"
2. Galia Press-Barnathan, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"Does Popular Culture Matter to International Relations Scholars?
Possible Links and Methodological Challenges"
3. Nissim Otmazgin, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"A Tail that Wags the Dog: Cultural Industry and Cultural Policy in East Asia"
Commentator: Arie Kacowicz, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Panel 2: Cultural Flows and Soft Power
1. Chua Beng Huat, National University of Singapore
"Delusional Desire: Soft Power and TV Dramas"
2. Jean Marie Bouissou, Science-Po
"From Niche Market to Hypermarkets: The Birth, Growth and Maturation
of the French Manga Market"
3. Eldad J. Pardo, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"The Comeback of Iran's Z $B{ (Brkh $Bb (Bneh: Ancient Heroes in the Global Age"
Commentator: Eyal Ben Ari, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Panel 3: Cultural Policy in the Making
1. Kozuka Souichirou, Sophia University
"Copyright Law as a Tool of New Industrial Policy?: Japan's
Unsuccessful Attempt to Promote its Contents Industry"
2. Kukhee Choo, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
"Cool Japan Nation: Japanese Governmental Policy towards the Anime Industry"
3. Jung-Yup Lee, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"Managing the Transnational, Governing the National:
Cultural Policy and the Politics of "Cultural Archetype Project in South Korea"
Commentator: Ehud Harari, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Panel 4: Cultural Industry and Cultural Discourse
1. Miki Daliot-Bul, Haifa University
"The New 'Japan Brand': Cool Japan as Zeitgeist"
2. Pang Laikwan, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
"Censorship against Ghosts: China's Cultural Policy Historicized"
3. Kwai Cheung Lo, Hong Kong Baptist University
"Historical Tensions in East Asian Popular Culture and the Roles of the State"
Commentator: Chua Beng Huat, National University of Singapore

Panel 5: Cultural Production and Social Change
1. Marwyn S. Samuels, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"The Media Industry, Popular Culture and Social Change in Contemporary China"
2. Shin Hyunjoon, Sungkonghoe University
"Trans/National Cultural Industries as an Agency of Regionalization?
The Case of South Korea"
3. Cherian George, Nanyang Technological University
"Silence and Protest in Singapore's Censorship Debates"
Commentator: Nir Avieli, Ben-Gurion University

Panel 6: A Comparative Perspective: Popular Culture in the Middle East
1. Wael Abu-Uksa, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"State and New Media in the Middle East: An Overview"
2. Sariel Birnbaum, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"Historical Audio-Visual Dramas: From Egyptian Dominance to a Pan-Arab
Satellite Discourse"
3. Tal Shenhav, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"Broadcasting the Future Generation: Gender Messages for Women and
Youth in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tunisia"

Panel 7: Concluding Comments and Open Discussion
Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University
Eyal Ben Ari, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem


For further information and registration please contact Dr. Nissim
Otmazgin at nissimot@mscc.huji.ac.il

                                  H-JAPAN
                               April 5, 2009

From: David Slater <d-slater@sophia.ac.jp>

Graduate Fieldwork Workshop
April 18th, 2009
Sophia University (Yotsuya Campus)
http://www.fla.sophia.ac.jp/about/location.html

Bldg. #10, room 301
10 am-noon
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