Portfolio

I have geared many of class assignments toward my interests in manga, anime, and fandom more generally. In addition, I have done and am doing several independent research projects on these topics. Here are a few highlights:

Publication: "Dis/joint"

I am extremely excited to announce that my paper "Dis/joint: Unification of Sound, Music, Narrative, and Animation in Liz and the Blue Bird" has been published in Volume 13.2 ("Soundscapes") of the academic journal Mechademia! This paper is a detailed formal analysis of the multiple ways in which sound and visuals are integrated and coordinated in the anime film Liz and the Blue Bird. It was initially conceived of as using an interdisciplinary framework, and although that theoretical framework was largely removed in revisions, I think the interdisciplinary nature of my analysis still remains.

Although not related to otaku sexuality, this paper remains within the field of Anime & Manga Studies, and while researching and writing it, I discovered a side research interest in film music, and anime music more specifically.

You can find another copy of the paper here.

Class: JPNS 302

Paper: 「なぜ日本のアニメーターが困っているのか」(Why are Japanese animators struggling?)

For my Advanced Japanese 2 class, I wrote a final paper about labor issues in the anime industry, particularly poor working conditions and low pay for animators and other workers, historical and structural factors that have produced this situation, and possible solutions to this problem.

Class: MLL 327

Paper: "'Liberate this Darkened City': Otaku and the Politics of Urban Imaginaries in Akihabara and Ikebukuro"

For my "Modern Japanese Culture" class, I wrote a final paper about the development of "otaku sanctuaries" within the Tokyo neighborhoods of Akihabara and Ikebukuro, and specifically about the politics of subcultural resistance and recuperation occuring within these neighborhoods, drawing on the work of Patrick W. Galbraith and Edmond Ernest dit Alban, with a broader theoretical perspective from Dick Hebdige. This paper approaches my probable capstone focus on otaku spaces (and "otaku urbanism") and subcultural politics regarding fan sexualities.

Class: JPNS 301

Paper: 「日本のコンテンツツーリズム 」(Japanese Contents Tourism)

For my Advanced Japanese 1 class, I wrote a final paper about contents tourism (also called seichi junrei), or tourism in Japan based on media properties, often anime.

Class: HONR 300

Paper: "Perspectives on the Two-Dimensional (Erotic) Body—Queering Desires in Eromanga"

For the honors seminar "Reading the Body in East Asia," I wrote my final paper on eromanga (pornographic manga) and its connections to otaku sexuality. It is about the formal characteristics of eromanga, how they represent bodies, and how the representations of these bodies engender desire in otaku subcultures--to explore these points, my paper incorporated formal criticism of two eromanga works.

Class: MCS 399

Paper: "Discourses of the Hometown: Furusato in Only Yesterday and Whisper of the Heart"

For my methods class in Media & Communications Studies, my final paper was an ideological/thematic analysis of the Japanese ideology of "furusato" (hometown/native place) in the Ghibli films Only Yesterday and Whisper of the Heart. I have not uploaded the paper yet as I might want to expand on it and rework it for publication in the future.

Class: PUBH 200, 301

Project: 25 Years of Japanese Animation

While these classes are not part of my degree plan, I was encouraged to take these courses in the Public Humanities after expressing my desire to complete an oral history of the UMBC Anime Society. I am currently in the process of doing so.

Panels

In the world of fan conventions, "panel" refers to any kind of presentation, whether it is an actual panel discussion or not. I have been fortunate to be a panelist at several fan conventions: Otakon, Katsucon, and Retrievercon.

Furusato Japan: Images of the Hometown in Anime and Manga

This is my most-presented panel, and as a result, the most polished, though I keep adding to and revising the presentation. In it, I explain the Japanese concept of "furusato" (nostalgic hometown, similar to Americana imagery in the US) and how it can be found in a range of anime and manga.

Otaku Sexuality

This panel, which gets at the topic of my degree plan, investigates the history and practices of otaku sexuality and explains some of the theories behind why otaku are attracted to fictional characters. I presented this at Otakon 2019.

Aural Anime: Music in Japanese Animation

This panel, co-presented with a friend of mine, explores the history, context, industry, and musicology of anime music, which is a secondary research interest. We presented this at Otakon Online 2020 and Otakon 2021.