Alongside the main conference, Manga Futures is also hosting a postgraduate workshop entitled, “Research and Career Futures in Japanese Popular Culture Studies”.

This postgraduate workshop will be open to postgraduate students who are currently working on topics related to contemporary Japanese popular culture. The workshop aims to tap the expertise of some of the visiting scholars in the Manga Futures conference and open a space where they can share their knowledge and experience in their respective fields. This is a great opportunity for postgraduate students to connect, learn, and consult with these internationally acclaimed scholars.

The workshop will be held on the 31 October 2014. This workshop will be led by Professor Jaqueline Berndt (Kyoto Seika University), Professor Vera Mackie (University of Wollongong) and Dr. Patrick Galbraith (Duke University).

Paper proposals are invited on the following themes:

• Fan appropriations of and contributions to popular culture in Japan and beyond
• Commonalities and differences in fandom-based creation and criticism between Japan and other countries
• Ethical and legal challenges in the production and consumption of manga (copyright, representations of violent and sexual content, potential fictional “child abuse” images etc.)
• Institutional support for or criticism of popular Japanese culture
• The use of popular culture in Japan studies and Japan language pedagogy
• The future of “Japanese popular studies” – theory and methods

Please note that the above issues may be also addressed via discussions of manga-related media such as anime and video games.

Due date for proposals: 13 June 2014
Notification of acceptance: July 2014