University of London, Birkbeck College

Graduate Student, Media and Cultural Studies

Thesis Title: Reading Identity, Gender and Sexuality in Manga by Rumiko Takahashi

About

I completed my BA Film Studies degree in 2011, for which my final dissertation topic was 'Strange to Meet You: Screening the Stranger in the Films of Jim Jarmusch'. Currently I am a full-time MA student at Birkbeck College, University of London undertaking Japanese Cultural Studies programme. I will complete this in September 2012.

Whilst I have a strong personal interest in film and television studies, I am interested in conducting research within anime and manga studies field, incorporating theories of postmodernity. My MA thesis will focus on the work of manga artist Rumiko Takahashi and will explore issues of gender, identity and sexuality. I am interested in connecting with any academics who have similar interests, if you've written work on anime, manga, Japaanese culture, media studies, gender studies, queer studies, papers on shounen-ai / manga / anime / film / internet fandom or other related areas. I like interdisciplinarity.

Please contact me to exchange ideas and thoughts and have a generally stimulating academic conversation!

I also teach myself Japanese so would also like to connect with Japanese linguists scholars or Japanese speakers in general. I am studying for JLPT N3 in July 2012 after having undertaken N4 last December.

In January 2013, I plan to visit Japan for a few months for a cultural visit and to volunteer on the WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) programme, but would like to conduct a short research project whilst I am there - perhaps observing cafe culture in Japan, therefore am keen to meet other academics who may be visiting Japan at that time too, or who have already been to Japan and can share some advice.

I also love to write fiction in my spare time and am currently writing a one-shot original entitled 'Ichiru no Nozomi'(Glimmer of Hope) loosely inspired by the Kurosawa Kiyoshi film 'Tokyo Sonata' and the Boy's Love manga series 'Okane ga Nai' (No Money).