Cosplaying research:
Practice led teaching and research

Author and presenter

• Emerald L King, School of Humanities, CALE

Abstract

As Cosplay Studies becomes more established, it makes sense that it makes its way into the classroom. Dressing in national dress for language classes at all levels (from Latin to Japanese) has a proud tradition, but where does cosplay (costume play – the popular cultural activity of dressing up as your favourite anime, manga, game or film character) sit in this space?

In this Lightning presentation, I will draw on experiences in the Japanese language and broader Humanities classroom to look at how cosplay research and costumes can be used to engage students and show alternate ways of engaging with and critiquing subjects. This use of costuming can be deployed in three main ways depending on the time, resources, and assessment task. In oral presentations that target language skills, student feedback indicates that dressing up to perform short dialogues in the classroom or to record short films can add a layer of agency and alleviate anxiety related to more traditional forms of in class presentation. Using historically plausible costuming to discuss key events in history or works of classical literature can offer both creative assessment as well as allowing obsessive instructors dress as their literary heroes while discussing them. Finally, considering character design in anime, manga, video games and cosplay can help when discussing gender, representation, equality and intersectionality.

(Units taught at UTAS include HAF234 Masculinities, HMJ310 Queering Japan, HUM407 Humanities Research Methods, HOS400 Communicating Research; reference will also be made to courses taught at La Trobe University and Victoria University of Wellington).