IAFOR > The Asian Conference on Media, Communication & Film (MediAsia) > MediAsia2022

MediAsia2022

MediAsia is organised by IAFOR in association with the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Osaka University, Japan.

MediAsia2022

October 17–20, 2022 | Held in Kyoto, Japan, and Online

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Speakers

  • Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar
    Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar
    Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan
  • Nasya Bahfen
    Nasya Bahfen
    La Trobe University, Australia
  • Thomas G. Endres
    Thomas G. Endres
    University of Northern Colorado, United States
  • Kelsey Oliver Imanishi
    Kelsey Oliver Imanishi
    Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan
  • Azusa Iwane
    Azusa Iwane
    Global News View, Japan
  • Namie Kawabata Wilson
    Namie Kawabata Wilson
    Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan
  • Yutaka Kubo
    Yutaka Kubo
    Kanazawa University, Japan
  • David Robie
    David Robie
    Asia Pacific Report, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • Brian Victoria
    Brian Victoria
    Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, UK

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Programme

  • Revisiting Keisuke Kinoshita through a Queer Lens
    Revisiting Keisuke Kinoshita through a Queer Lens
    Keynote Presentation: Yutaka Kubo
  • The “Zen” of Zen Gardens: Fact or Fiction?
    The “Zen” of Zen Gardens: Fact or Fiction?
    Keynote Presentation: Brian Victoria
  • News Media and the World
    News Media and the World
    Panel Presentation: Azusa Iwane, Namie Kawabata Wilson, Kelsey Oliver Imanishi & Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar
  • Costume Conversations: Resilience and Representation in Cosplay and Beyond
    Costume Conversations: Resilience and Representation in Cosplay and Beyond
    Keynote Presentation: Thomas G. Endres
  • Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
    Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
    Featured Interview: David Robie & Nasya Bahfen

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Organising Committee

The Conference Programme Committee is composed of distinguished academics who are experts in their fields. Conference Programme Committee members may also be members of IAFOR's International Academic Board. The Organising Committee is responsible for nominating and vetting Keynote and Featured Speakers; developing the conference programme, including special workshops, panels, targeted sessions, and so forth; event outreach and promotion; recommending and attracting future Conference Programme Committee members; working with IAFOR to select PhD students and early career academics for IAFOR-funded grants and scholarships; and overseeing the reviewing of abstracts submitted to the conference.

  • Nasya Bahfen
    Nasya Bahfen
    La Trobe University, Australia
  • Thomas G. Endres
    Thomas G. Endres
    University of Northern Colorado, United States
  • Joseph Haldane
    Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Bradley J. Hamm
    Bradley J. Hamm
    Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, USA
  • Virgil Hawkins
    Virgil Hawkins
    Osaka University, Japan
  • Celia Lam
    Celia Lam
    University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), China
  • Timothy W. Pollock
    Timothy W. Pollock
    Osaka Kyoiku University / Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan
  • Paul Spicer
    Paul Spicer
    Hokkaido University, Japan
  • Gary E. Swanson
    Gary E. Swanson
    University of Northern Colorado, USA (fmr.)

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MediAsia2022 | KAMC2022 Review Committee

  • Professor Azza Ahmed, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates
  • Dr Georgia Eglezou, Panteion University, Greece
  • Professor William Kunz, University of Washington Tacoma, United States
  • Dr Eko Nursanty, University of 17 Agustus 1945 (UNTAG) Semarang, Indonesia
  • Dr Michael Ogden, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates
  • Dr Rachna Sharma, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, India
  • Dr Paul Spicer, Hokkaido University, Japan
  • Dr Suranti Trisnawati, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
  • Dr Aaron Ward, Toyo University, Japan

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Conference Outline

Monday, October 17, 2022Tuesday, October 18, 2022Wednesday, October 19, 2022Thursday, October 20, 2022Virtual Presentations

Location: Online

09:15-09:30: Welcome Address

09:30-11:10: Online Parallel Presentation Session 1
Room A: Film Criticism and Theory
65836 | China’s Green Campaign in Eco-images–The Conflicting Stories and Complex Realities
65827 | Becoming-Cockroach in the End Times: Alienation and Involution in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang
66252 | Ouyang Yuqian’s Mulan Joins the Army: The Wartime Propagandist and the Female Crossdresser
65620 | Historical Nostalgia in Animated Film

Room B: Visual Culture
65799 | Vaporwave Aesthetics: Affect, Vibe, and Japan Imagined in Global Melancholia
65885 | Exploring Indonesian Cultural Symbols for Food Packaging Design – A Comparative Study: Indonesian and Thai Consumers
65803 | Social Media Content: Manifesting Reality or a Radically Fantasized Image?
65011 | Exploring Meme Marketing Strategies for the Post-Pandemic World: Case of Indian Brands

11:10-11:25: Break

11:25-13:05: Online Parallel Presentation Session 2
Room A: Film and Literature
65676 | Exploring Southeast Asian History and Cultural Values Through Short Stories
65035 | The Colonialism Behind the Mastery and Servant Bond in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
65755 | Feminized Seme: Reflecting and Resignifying Femininity in Chinese Commercialized Danmei Novels
65791 | “You Must Think Like a Patch of Sand”: Neurodiversity in Dune (1965)

Room B: Interdisciplinary: Cultural Studies
65533 | A Critical Reading on the Anti-feminism Discourse by “The Online Left Wing” in Bilibili Platform
65609 | #MoreThanHumanLivesMatter: Breaking the Egotistical and Moving to Ecocritical
65756 | Nurturing Hope Post-COVID-19: Parental Death and Bereavement Among Malaysian Children
65839 | “I See The Urgent Needs of Children”: A Dialogue with The “Firefighter of Charity Work”

13:05-13:20: Break

13:20-14:10: Online Parallel Presentation Session 3
Room A: Cultural Studies
65025 | An Archetypal Study of Studio Bones’ “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” (2009-10)
65737 | The Impact of Cultural Code on Communication Promotion of Japanese Animation in the USA

Room B: Visual Arts
65728 | AI Images and Visual Culture – A Case Study of the Portrait of Edmond De Belamy
64968 | Mindfulness in Art Practices, an Ethnographic Research on Hong Kong Artists in Visual Arts, Music/sound Art, Performance and Contemporary Art

14:10-14:25: Break

14:25-16:05: Online Parallel Presentation Session 4
Room A: Film Criticism and Theory
64444 | Exploring Dream Soundscapes in Cinema
65030 | Mapping the Road to Fourth Cinema
65830 | The Camera’s View From Ashore: Indigenous Authenticity in THE LAND HAS EYES
65639 | Television’s Second Golden Age: The Politics and International Relations of the HBO Era

Room B: Cultural Studies
64974 | Digital Diasporas: Chinese Women’s Resilience on Online Forums and Digital Governance on Social Media Platforms in Post-COVID Time
65547 | Bakla as (M)other: Queerying Conceptions of Motherhood in the Selected Films of Jun Robles Lana
65838 | Intimacies and Digital Technologies: Emotions, Conflicts and Inter-generational Relations in Chinese Liushou Families
64969 | Mediatization and Gender Narratives in Chinese Folk Paper-cutting Art
65007 | Saving Underground Culture Through Bandcamp: The Case of Tokyo’s Ochiai Soup

16:05-16:20: Break

16:20-17:35: Online Parallel Presentation Session 5
Room A: Social Media and Communication Technology
65027 | Group Support in the Chat Rooms: Community Resilience During the Lockdown
65648 | From E-Government to Social Media: An Analysis of Political Communication in the Xuzhou Eight-Child Mother Incident
65646 | How Does the Chinese “Government Social Media Platform” Play Its Role: Focusing on the Three Cases of Local Government

17:50-18:35: Online Featured Interview
Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
David Robie, Asia Pacific Report, Aotearoa New Zealand
Nasya Bahfen, La Trobe University, Australia (Interviewer)

Location: Kyoto Research Park

12:30-13:00: Conference Registration

13:00-13:05: Announcements
13:05-13:20: Welcome Address and Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners

13:20-14:05: Keynote Presentation
Costume Conversations: Resilience and Representation in Cosplay and Beyond
Thomas G. Endres, University of Northern Colorado, United States

14:05-14:20: Coffee Break

14:20-15:05: Featured Panel Presentation
News Media and the World
Azusa Iwane, OSIPP, Osaka University, Japan
Namie Kawabata Wilson, OSIPP, Osaka University, Japan
Kelsey Oliver Imanishi, OSIPP, Osaka University, Japan
Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar, OSIPP, Osaka University, Japan
Virgil Hawkins, Osaka University, Japan (Moderator)

15:05-15:20: Coffee Break

15:20-16:05: Keynote Presentation
Revisiting Keisuke Kinoshita Through a Queer Lens
Yutaka Kubo, Kanazawa University, Japan

16:05-16:20: Coffee Break

16:20-17:05: Keynote Presentation
The "Zen" of Zen Gardens: Fact or Fiction?
Brian Victoria, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, United Kingdom

17:05-17:15: Conference Photograph

18:00-20:00: Conference Dinner (Optional Extra)

Location: Kyoto Research Park

09:30-11:10: Onsite Parallel Session 1
Room A: Critical and Cultural Studies, Gender and Communication
61417 | Individuals’ Use of Memorials to Members of Marginalized Communities During Times of Renegotiation of National Public Memory
65467 | The Culture of Qalandar Pakhivas (Indigenous Gypsy Clan) Community of Lahore: A Question of Marginalisation
65804 | Representations of Brazilian Nikkei Dekasegi Women in Japanese Media Productions
65120 | The Effect of Psychological Raha (Comfort) and the Use of Social Media

Room B: Media and Politics
64919 | “Cai-Pin Liu Incident” in Written Media Reports
65879 | “Tweeto-Bomber” – Emotional Background of Tweets of Polish MPs
64504 | Trauma and Compassionate Witnessing in A Private War
65023 | Trends in Broadcast News War Coverage: Framing Humanity in Syria and Ukraine

11:10-11:25: Coffee Break

11:25-12:40: Onsite Parallel Session 2
Room A: Critical and Cultural Studies, Gender and Communication
65845 | Emotional Interpretation of Funeral Symbols in Animations
65872 | (Un)Solving Paternity Disputes through “The Closure DNA Show”: The Case of Young People in Zimbabwe
65734 | Reality Television as a Reflection of Cultural Values: A Comparison of The Great British Bake Off and Bake Off Japan

Room B: Media & Communication
65798 | The Good Jab?: Analysis on COVID-19 Booster Vaccination Decisions and Exposure to Information Channels
65039 | Role of Media and Communication in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh
65747 | Communicating ‘Government’: A Case Study of Anti CAA News in India

12:40-13:40: Lunch Break

13:40-14:55: Onsite Parallel Session 3
Room A: Performing Arts
62830 | Developing Self-revelatory Performances ‘Tegami: A Letter to Oneself’: A Form of Drama Therapy to Build Students’ Resilience through the Pandemic
64972 | “Do Not Show but Let See”: Resilience in the Kyoto Hanamachi and Maiko and Geiko Communities
65745 | Vocal Dose and Vocal Demands in Contemporary Musicals

Room B: Media Studies
64943 | Exploring the Role of Diversity in Newsrooms During an Ethnically Charged Environment: A Case Study of TV Media in India
65736 | The Presumed Media Influence (Self-perception of the Media Influence) on the Strategic – Professional Toolbox of Litigators in Israeli News Prominent Cases
64964 | Management Strategies for Local Brand Expression Through Organizational Learning in Regional Independent TV Stations: A Case Study

15:15-18:00: Cultural Visit to Kiyomizudera
After the parallel sessions on Wednesday, October 19, IAFOR will be hosting a cultural visit to Kiyomizudera, one of the most famous and celebrated temples in Japan. Founded in 778 AD, the temple is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site, and is considered a must-see location for those visiting Kyoto for the first time. The temple contains buildings from the 17th century, including a main hall designated as a National Treasure, and its wooden stage offers an incredible panoramic view of Kyoto. The visit will be led by plenary speaker Brian Victoria of the Oxford Center for Buddhist Studies, whose in-depth historical and cultural knowledge of the site will bring an academic edge to this already unique and exciting experience.

If you would like to participate in this cultural visit, please sign up at the Registration Desk before 13:25 on Wednesday, October 19.

Location: Kyoto Research Park

09:30-11:10: On-site Parallel Session 1
Room A: Education: Culture & Media
65008 | Manga-based Approaches in EFL: For Young Adult Learners in Japan
65809 | Inheritance of Aboriginal Culture: Elementary School Establishment of Smangus Village in Taiwan
65031 | Extending the Classroom Walls: Liquidifying Power Dynamics With Online/Blended Learning and International Partnerships
64382 | The Curvilinear Effect of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Roles of Entrepreneurial Passion and Resilience

Room B: Film Studies
65892 | The Rise of Documentary Film Movement in Thai Cinema During Current Political Conflicts
65018 | The Transformation of Soundscape From Benshi’s Voice to Talkie System in Japan
65733 | Resilience and Abjection: An Analysis of the Character Arc of Ellen Ripley in the Alien Franchise
64484 | Rebel within the System: Subversive Style in Four Films by Nagisa Oshima

11:10-11:25: Coffee Break

11:25-13:05: On-site Parallel Session 2
Room A: Interdisciplinary: Culture and Humanities
64876 | Perception of Using Social Media in Improving Art Education Students’ English Language Skills
65649 | "Anti-gatekeeping" on the Twitch platform
64079 | Resilience in Media Ecologies: Mapping the Converging Histories of Magic Lanterns, Omocha-e (Toy Prints) and Kamishibai
63807 | Innovation and Value: Organ Transplant Innovation in China

Room B: Film Studies
65953 | Focussing on the Critical: Film Pedagogy in a Modern University
65822 | Building An Intercultural Extended Reality Storyverse
65617 | Online Film Distribution as a Viable Platform for South African Feature Films
62857 | The Evolution of the Netflix Production Model through the Birth of a Global Television Service

13:05-14:05: Lunch Break

14:05-15:20: On-site Parallel Session 3
Room A: Aesthetics and Design
65867 | Early Cybernetics History in South Korea Through Architecture
65020 | From Abstraction to Algorithm
65012 | An Interpretation of Ikenobo Senno Kuden (16C) and Its Link to the Freestyle Ikebana Movement in the Modern Japan

Room B: Social Media & Communicaton
65657 | Changing Landscape of the Media and Entertainment Sector in the Rapid Age of Emerging Digital Technologies
65788 | Using a Smart Chatbot System as a Communication Tool for Campus Navigation
65878 | A Study on the Relationship between Internet Usage Time and Internet Dependence Attitude of High School Students

15:20-15:30: Onsite Conference Closing Session

Virtual Poster Presentations
65028 | Applying IPA to Evaluate the Hosts of Variety Shows for Television Stations in Taiwan
64965 | Exploring the Decision-making Model of Young Consumers for Purchasing Cultural and Creative Products
65789 | Who are the Misogynists that Stigmatize Feminists in Chinese Cyberspace?
65752 | Discovering Tsou People’s First Experience of Taiwanese Cinema History in the Early Days of Japanese Colonial Period

Pre-Recorded Virtual Presentations
64913 | Pathetic Beauty: Meaning and Connectedness in Everyday Aesthetics
65640 | Inclination Towards Tree Canopy: Architecture Origin, Space Demarcator, Dwelling and Art
65887 | Learning by Doing: Enhancing the Educational Experience of Architectural Design by Using Collaborative and Experiential Means
65877 | Astrology Content Reading Habits of Final Year Graduation Students From Mass Media: A Study in Udupi District
65032 | The Resilience and Innovative Impact of Service Design on Regional Culture
65372 | Tamura Toshiko’s Narratives of Resilience
65286 | In the Origins of Brazilian Haiku – Guilherme de Almeida
64351 | Creating the Contemporary Performing Arts with an Implementation of Acting Techniques Integration: A Case Study of the Contemporary Performing Arts “Return to the Spirit”
65041 | The Power of Personal Stories: Building Resilience through Story-Telling in a Safe Space
64105 | Still We Rise: Racial Discriminatory Resilience and Black American Musicians
65749 | Inequitable Access in the Music Related Industries: Proposed Strategies and Directions
65024 | Feminist Instagram Influencers Communicating Women’s Interests In India: A Content Analysis
65870 | Art Projects Using Augmented Reality Technology
65647 | Visualization of Social Inequality in South Korea in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite
64800 | Portrayal of Men in Ray’s Films, Mirror to Present Heroes in Bollywood: Comparative Analysis With Reference to ‘Mahanagar’ and ‘Nayak’
65034 | A Study of Gender Representation of Women in the 10 Highest Grossing Hindi and Tamil Movies of 2015-2020
65763 | Rendang of Death: Revisiting Collective Memory of the Nation through Cartoon Violence
65766 | A Brief History and Systematic Review on Editing Techniques for Film Making
65819 | Using Social Media Platforms for Social Issue Documentary: A Case Study of “Let Kids Be Kids” in The Series “Weirdos”
65873 | Expedition for a Workable Business Model Among News Publishers: A Study of Indian Digital News Portals Post-pandemic Era
65009 | Uses & Gratifications of Social Media: Survey of YouTube Viewing among College Students
65653 | Bouncing Back From Adversity: Thriving During the Pandemic Through Mindfulness Meditation on the Plum Village App
65884 | Indian Government’s Use of Social Media During the Russia-Ukraine War
64862 | Imagining the Dalit in Indian Sport Films: A Case of Sarpatta Parambarai and Jhund
65667 | Appearance Concerns after COVID 19
65811 | Changing Behaviours Through Design: An Educational Comic Brochure to Help Prevent Childhood Obesity

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Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar
Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan

Biography

Syafiq is currently a second-year Master’s student at Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan. Prior to entering Osaka University, he worked for local television and radio stations as a TV presenter and radio announcer. He is currently researching the news media in Indonesia and its interaction with the Indonesian government using the forest fire case of 2019 as the case study.

Nasya Bahfen
La Trobe University, Australia

Biography

Nasya is a former journalist whose research looks at the intersections of new media, sport and diversity. She runs the Masters in Journalism at La Trobe University where she is a researcher with the Centre for Sport and Social Impact. Nasya teaches journalism and sports journalism and is also the postgraduate research coordinator for media (looking after Masters by Research and PhD students in journalism and communications).

Her previous academic work includes how race is framed in Australian journalism through sport, interview choice among young journalism students covering diversity, the incorporation of social media in journalism education, and internet use by southeast Asian and Australian Muslim youth. Her recent co-authored book (on the back of an Australian Research Council grant) explores building resilience among Jewish, Muslim, and other culturally diverse groups targeted in cyber racism, while another recent project compared social media use among Muslim students in Melbourne and New York city where she was a visiting scholar with NYU’s Center for Religion and Media.

She has a PhD in the sociology of the media and worked as a reporter and producer for fifteen years at Australian public broadcasters SBS and ABC. Her writing and commentary on sport and diversity has been published in places such as Melbourne’s Age and New Daily newspapers, the Jakarta Globe, the Straits Times, and the Brunei Times. She’s also produced hour long radio documentaries for ABC Radio National and ABC Grandstand Digital.

Nasya’s former students number in the hundreds and work in newsrooms and media roles across Australia and the world. She is regularly interviewed by Australian and international broadcasters on issues of diversity in the media, and diversity in sport. When she isn’t working on a book on sport and social inclusion, or acting as an AFL multicultural ambassador, Nasya plays indoor soccer and learns KPop dance routines.

Featured Interview (2022) | Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
Presentation (2019) | Australia and Asia: Media and Identity in a Time of Change
Thomas G. Endres
University of Northern Colorado, United States

Biography

Thomas G. Endres (PhD, University of Minnesota) is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Northern Colorado, USA, where he serves as coordinator to both COMM's online degree completion program and the Leadership Studies minor. Teaching/research interests include rhetoric and popular culture, storytelling within cultural communities, leadership and group dynamics, and pedagogical tools such as study abroad and online learning. His favourite course to teach is a short-term summer course in Barcelona, Spain. He is author/photographer of the book Sturgis Stories: Celebrating the People of the World's Largest Motorcycle Rally and has published dozens of book chapters and conference proceedings on topics such as father-daughter relationships, tattoos as family identifiers, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2015 he published the definitive article on Ernest Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory in Wiley-Blackwell's International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy. Tom has delivered over 230 conference presentations worldwide, including TEDtalk ArenaCircle and keynote addresses at conferences in Japan, China, Thailand (where he also served as conference chair for MEDCOM 2016), and the UK. Awards received include Outstanding Professor from the National Speakers Association, Administrator of the Year from the National Communication Association’s National States Advisory Council, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rocky Mountain Communication Association. He is currently writing a new photo-ethnography book on costume and identity and will co-author the next edition of Sellnow's The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts.

Keynote Presentation (2022) | Costume Conversations: Resilience and Representation in Cosplay and Beyond
Kelsey Oliver Imanishi
Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan

Biography

Kelsey Oliver Imanishi is a PhD candidate at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan. Her research focuses primarily on political communication, foreign policy agenda setting, and the role of the media during times of humanitarian crisis and natural disasters. Her most recent publication is “The Boy on the Beach: Shifts in US Policy Discourses on Syrian Asylum Following the Death of Alan Kurdi” in Media, Culture & Society (2022). She is currently continuing work on her dissertation, which is tentatively titled “Toward a More Holistic Understanding of Media Influence on Foreign Policy: Quantifying Media Discourse Diversity and Its Impact on US Aid Commitments to International Humanitarian Crises”, wherein she explores the impact of complex media narratives of crises on the aid bureaucracies tasked with responding to them. In addition to these research interests, Kelsey also has a background in rhetorical analysis, journalism studies, and international relations.

Azusa Iwane
Global News View, Japan

Biography

Ms Azusa Iwane is the vice-project manager, editor, and a main podcast host at Global News View (GNV), an independent media outlet introducing the Japanese audience to international news overlooked by domestic mainstream media. She is also a researcher specialising in international media coverage and the role of independent media, focusing on raising awareness on poverty issues. Her master’s thesis dealt with how African poverty issues are represented in the Japanese media. Ms Iwane has worked extensively with international development NGOs, including a series of field studies in Zambia to better grasp the effective poverty experienced by mining communities present in the region with the collaboration of the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Copperbelt University, Zambia.

Featured Panel Discussion (2024) | Media and Power in the Asia-Pacific: IAFOR Global Fellows and IAFOR Research Centre Panel Discussion

Namie Kawabata Wilson
Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, Japan

Biography

Namie Kawabata Wilson is a graduate student at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University. Before joining OSIPP, she received her bachelor’s degree at the School of Human Sciences at Osaka University.

Namie Kawabata Wilson specialises in media studies, focusing on US election coverage. Her past research includes analysis on the claim of a ‘liberal’ media bias in the American mainstream media. Her current research analyses how the mainstream media covers Vice President Kamala Harris compared to former White male vice presidents.

Namie Kawabata Wilson has also written articles for Global News View, headed by Professor Virgil Hawkins, a Japanese research centre that provides comprehensive and objective information about world issues. She served as the President of the International Student Conference (2019-2020), a summer program for students around the world to discuss solutions for global issues. She was the host and organiser of the Global Youth Conference on Fully Autonomous Weapons (2020-2021), working with Human Rights Watch and the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots to submit a proposal of recommendations for the Japanese government.

Yutaka Kubo
Kanazawa University, Japan

Biography

Yutaka Kubo is an associate professor of film studies in the School of International Studies at Kanazawa University, Japan. He specializes in post-war Japanese cinema and queer theory-based analysis of film. He is the author of Over the Sunset: Keisuke Kinoshita and Queer Sensibility (Nakanishiya Shuppan, 2022) and he curated the exhibition Inside/Out: LGBTQ+ Representation in Film and Television for the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum at Waseda University in 2019. Some of his recent publications include “Fading Away from the Screen: Cinematic Responses to Queer Ageing in Contemporary Japanese Cinema” in Japanese Visual Media: Politicizing the Screen (2021) and “Still Grieving: Mobility and Absence in Post-3/11 Mourning Films” in the Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema (2019). He is currently working on two projects: an exploration of queer aging in Japanese cinema and television since the 1990s, and extensive research into the personal, cultural, historical, and political roles of production, distribution, and consumption of food in queer films worldwide since the 1960s.

Keynote Presentation (2022) | Revisiting Keisuke Kinoshita through a Queer Lens
David Robie
Asia Pacific Report, Aotearoa New Zealand

Biography

David Robie is the editor and publisher of Asia Pacific Report and founding director of the Pacific Media Centre at Auckland University of Technology (where he recently retired as Professor of Communication and Pacific Journalism), and a journalist of more than 40 years covering the Asia-Pacific region. He has reported on post-colonial coups, indigenous struggles for independence, environmental issues, and international development. He is the author of several books on South Pacific media and politics including Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior, The Pacific Journalist: A Practical Guide, and Don't Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific.

Keynote Presentation (2022) | Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
Brian Victoria
Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, UK

Biography

Brian Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. He holds a MA in Buddhist Studies from Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, and a PhD from the Department of Religious Studies at Temple University.

In addition to a second, enlarged edition of Zen At War (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), Brian's major writings include Zen War Stories (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003); an autobiographical work in Japanese entitled Gaijin de ari, Zen bozu de ari (As a Foreigner, As a Zen Priest), published by San-ichi Shobo in 1971; Zen Master Dōgen, coauthored with Prof. Yokoi Yūhō of Aichi-gakuin University (Weatherhill, 1976); and a translation of The Zen Life by Sato Koji (Weatherhill, 1972). In addition, Brian has published numerous journal articles, focusing on the relationship of not only Buddhism but religion in general, to violence and warfare.

From 2005 to 2013 Brian was a Professor of Japanese Studies and director of the AEA “Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program” at Antioch University in Yellow Springs, OH, USA. From 2013 to 2015 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan. His latest book, Zen Terror: The Death of Democracy in Prewar Japan was published by Rowman & Littlefield in February 2020. Brian is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and a fully ordained Buddhist priest in the Sōtō Zen sect.

Keynote Presentation (2023) | To Whom Do the Senkaku (Ch. Diaoyu) Islands Belong and Why Should We Care?

Previous Presentations:

Keynote Presentation (2022) | The “Zen” of Zen Gardens: Fact or Fiction?
Keynote Presentation (2021) | 'Holy War' as Portrayed in Japanese Films, 1937-45
Revisiting Keisuke Kinoshita through a Queer Lens
Keynote Presentation: Yutaka Kubo

The works of Japanese filmmaker Keisuke Kinoshita have long been underappreciated in Western academic circles, despite enjoying critical success in Japan and despite his enormous contribution to the film industry during the second golden age of Japanese cinema in the 1950s. Ever since his passing in 1998, film scholars and critics in Japan have sought to reframe his career through the perspectives of war memory, family, and gender. One of these attempts includes film critic Ikuko Ishihara’s comprehensive analysis of masculinity and male vulnerability in Kinoshita’s films, which paved the way for examining expressions of non-normative gender, sexuality, and body in the post-war era. Following Ishihara’s work, some scholars have begun to focus on Kinoshita’s aesthetic obsession with non-normativity.

How do Kinoshita’s films help us understand Kinoshita’s complex relationship with love, attachment, and intimacy? Sharing elements from my monograph Yuyakegumo no kanata ni: Kinoshita Keisuke to kuia na kansei (Over the Sunset: Kinoshita Keisuke and Queer Sensibility), this talk will introduce the ways to trace and enjoy the fluidity of Kinoshita’s queer sensibility in his commercial works from the 1940s to the 1950s, in addition to re-contextualizing his home movies, shot between 1937 and 1949, through a queer lens.

Read presenters' biography
The “Zen” of Zen Gardens: Fact or Fiction?
Keynote Presentation: Brian Victoria

For many who come to Kyoto, the opportunity to view one or more Zen gardens is a highlight of their visit. Simply described, Zen gardens are composed of miniature, stylized landscapes created through the careful arrangement of rocks, water, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and/or the use of gravel or sand raked to represent ripples in water. Zen gardens are intended to imitate the essence of nature, not its actual appearance and have been found at Zen Buddhist temples in Kyoto from the Muromachi period (1338–1573) onwards. Usually relatively small and surrounded by a temple wall or buildings, a Zen garden is meant to be seen while seated from a single viewpoint outside the garden such as the residence of the abbot of the temple or monastery. For this reason, Zen gardens are widely believed to serve as an aid to the practice of meditation, either expressing, or capable of teaching, the ultimate Buddhist truth of awakening/enlightenment. Focusing on Ryōanji, one of Kyoto’s most famous Zen gardens, this presentation asks the simple question – is this fact or fiction?

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News Media and the World
Panel Presentation: Azusa Iwane, Namie Kawabata Wilson, Kelsey Oliver Imanishi & Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar

In this plenary panel presentation, four students from the Osaka School of Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University will describe their research into international news media.

SDGs Coverage in the Media: Case Study of a Japanese Newspaper | Azusa Iwane

United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified 17 goals to realise a sustainable world with no one left behind. The first of these goals is the eradication of poverty. While SDGs are widely adopted by Japanese society across both public and private entities, the actual content of this narrative remains to be effectively characterised. The presenter uses Japanese newspapers to examine the common focus of the SDGs within Japanese newspaper coverage.

The Not So 'Liberal' Media: 2020 Presidential Election Coverage in American Broadcast Media | Namie Kawabata Wilson

Using a case study of MSNBC's broadcast coverage of the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, this study tests the claim of a 'liberal' media bias by quantitatively and qualitatively analysing coverage of 'liberal' presidential candidates. Results show that MSNBC covers 'liberal' candidates in a more negative manner than 'moderate' candidates, refuting the claim of a 'liberal' media bias.

Aid Bureaucracies in Times of Humanitarian Crisis: How Media and Congressional Interest Shape USAID Responses to Complex Humanitarian Emergencies | Kelsey Oliver Imanishi

There has been much speculation on the determinants of foreign aid. While the motivations underpinning aid – geostrategic importance, economic self-interest, and humanitarian need – have become more or less accepted, what is less understood is how aid bureaucracies respond to the preferences of political actors such as elected officials or the media. In clarifying this relationship, this research examines how US media and congressional discourses (measured in attention volume and complexity) impact USAID obligations made to countries experiencing complex humanitarian emergencies. It finds that both indicators for both the media and Congress have significant impacts on aid allocations even above and beyond the impact of need indicators.

News Media Influence on Policymakers’ Response to Natural Disaster: The Case of Forest Fires of 2019 in Indonesia | Syafiq Syaikhul Akbar

Press freedom in Indonesia was not given to the news media until 1998 when the country had a major democratic reform. The study aims to understand the current role that the news media plays with press freedom and its interaction with the Indonesian government. The study is using the 2019 forest fire as its case study as there was a major fire and a presidential election happening in the same calendar year.

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Costume Conversations: Resilience and Representation in Cosplay and Beyond
Keynote Presentation: Thomas G. Endres

For some, dressing up in costume provides an opportunity to be someone they are not. But for many, the costume allows the person to dress in a way that shows who they really are. In this presentation, Endres shares a preview of his forthcoming book My Costume, Myself: Celebrating Stories of Cosplay and Beyond (Kirk House Press). Beginning with a brief history of costuming and cosplay, and examining the impact of costume messages on self-identification and portrayal, the address focuses primarily on photos and interviews conducted by Endres over a year-long period in venues ranging from New York City to Los Angeles, California. The scenes range from Comic Cons and Festivals to Old West historical reenactments in the streets of Deadwood, South Dakota, United States, and the costumes run the gamut from superheroes to anime/manga to Medieval to drag. Both the resilience of subjects, and the ways in which they choose to represent themselves, is found in stories related to grief, health, ability/disability, gender identification, and family relationships. Of particular interest are questions related to depictions of race and culture, and the continuum between “appropriate” and “appropriation.” With the goal of celebration, these stories serve to legitimise and validate this increasingly popular cultural phenomenon.

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Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
Featured Interview: David Robie & Nasya Bahfen

New Zealand journalist and academic David Robie has covered the Asia-Pacific region for international media for more than two decades. An advocate for media freedom in the Pacific region, he is the author of several books on South Pacific media and politics, including an account of the French bombing of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior - which took place while he was on board. In 1994 he founded the journal Pacific Journalism Review examining media issues and communication in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. In this interview conducted by Mediasia organising committee member Dr Nasya Bahfen, Professor Robie discusses a surge of disinformation and the challenges it posed for journalists in the region as they covered the COVID-19 pandemic alongside a parallel 'infodemic' of fake news and hoaxes. He also explores the global climate emergency and the disproportionate impact it is having on the Asia-Pacific.

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Nasya Bahfen
La Trobe University, Australia

Biography

Nasya is a former journalist whose research looks at the intersections of new media, sport and diversity. She runs the Masters in Journalism at La Trobe University where she is a researcher with the Centre for Sport and Social Impact. Nasya teaches journalism and sports journalism and is also the postgraduate research coordinator for media (looking after Masters by Research and PhD students in journalism and communications).

Her previous academic work includes how race is framed in Australian journalism through sport, interview choice among young journalism students covering diversity, the incorporation of social media in journalism education, and internet use by southeast Asian and Australian Muslim youth. Her recent co-authored book (on the back of an Australian Research Council grant) explores building resilience among Jewish, Muslim, and other culturally diverse groups targeted in cyber racism, while another recent project compared social media use among Muslim students in Melbourne and New York city where she was a visiting scholar with NYU’s Center for Religion and Media.

She has a PhD in the sociology of the media and worked as a reporter and producer for fifteen years at Australian public broadcasters SBS and ABC. Her writing and commentary on sport and diversity has been published in places such as Melbourne’s Age and New Daily newspapers, the Jakarta Globe, the Straits Times, and the Brunei Times. She’s also produced hour long radio documentaries for ABC Radio National and ABC Grandstand Digital.

Nasya’s former students number in the hundreds and work in newsrooms and media roles across Australia and the world. She is regularly interviewed by Australian and international broadcasters on issues of diversity in the media, and diversity in sport. When she isn’t working on a book on sport and social inclusion, or acting as an AFL multicultural ambassador, Nasya plays indoor soccer and learns KPop dance routines.

Featured Interview (2022) | Challenges Faced by Media Covering the Asia-Pacific: A Conversation with David Robie
Presentation (2019) | Australia and Asia: Media and Identity in a Time of Change
Thomas G. Endres
University of Northern Colorado, United States

Biography

Thomas G. Endres (PhD, University of Minnesota) is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Northern Colorado, USA, where he serves as coordinator to both COMM's online degree completion program and the Leadership Studies minor. Teaching/research interests include rhetoric and popular culture, storytelling within cultural communities, leadership and group dynamics, and pedagogical tools such as study abroad and online learning. His favourite course to teach is a short-term summer course in Barcelona, Spain. He is author/photographer of the book Sturgis Stories: Celebrating the People of the World's Largest Motorcycle Rally and has published dozens of book chapters and conference proceedings on topics such as father-daughter relationships, tattoos as family identifiers, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2015 he published the definitive article on Ernest Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory in Wiley-Blackwell's International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy. Tom has delivered over 230 conference presentations worldwide, including TEDtalk ArenaCircle and keynote addresses at conferences in Japan, China, Thailand (where he also served as conference chair for MEDCOM 2016), and the UK. Awards received include Outstanding Professor from the National Speakers Association, Administrator of the Year from the National Communication Association’s National States Advisory Council, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rocky Mountain Communication Association. He is currently writing a new photo-ethnography book on costume and identity and will co-author the next edition of Sellnow's The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts.

Keynote Presentation (2022) | Costume Conversations: Resilience and Representation in Cosplay and Beyond
Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within Osaka University.

He is also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade, a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the College of Education of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance.

From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

A black belt in judo, he is married with two children, and lives in Japan.

Bradley J. Hamm
Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, USA

Biography

Bradley J. Hamm is a full professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University, USA, serving as the dean from 2012 to 2018, where he oversaw Medill's programs in Chicago, Washington, DC, and San Francisco in addition to its home campus in Evanston. Previously, he was Dean of the Indiana University School of Journalism in Bloomington and Indianapolis, USA.

Hamm's PhD is in mass communication research from the University of North Carolina, USA. He received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina, USA, and an undergraduate degree from Catawba College in North Carolina, USA.

He also served as the interim dean and associate dean of the School of Communications at Elon University in North Carolina, USA. Hamm has taught in study abroad programs in Japan, China and the United Kingdom and started his career as a newspaper reporter. His teaching and research interests are in journalism history and media theory, particularly agenda setting theory.

He served as a trustee for the Poynter Institute and is a judge for the Scripps Howard National Journalism Awards. He serves as an independent, non-executive member of the Board of Directors for Next Digital media company of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Virgil Hawkins
Osaka University, Japan

Biography

Dr Virgil Hawkins holds a PhD in International Public Policy from the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, where he currently serves as associate professor. He is also a research associate with the University of the Free State, South Africa.

Before joining OSIPP, Virgil Hawkins was an assistant professor at the Global Collaboration Center, Osaka University (2007-2010), and has also served with the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) in Cambodia (technical advisor, 2002-2004), and in Zambia (country director, 2004-2007).

Virgil Hawkins is also a co-founder of the Southern African Centre for Collaboration on Peace and Security (SACCPS). His prime research interest is in the media coverage of conflict (and the lack thereof), most notably in Africa. His most recent book is Communication and Peace: Mapping an Emerging Field, edited with Julia Hoffmann (Routledge, 2015).

Featured Presentation (2019) | Climate Coverage: Getting More and Getting it Done Right

Previous MediAsia Presentations

Featured Presentation (2017) | Introduction of Osaka University’s Global News View Database
Celia Lam
University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), China

Biography

Dr Celia Lam is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Media and Cultural Studies, School of International Communications, University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), China. She received a BMedia in Screen Production from Macquarie University, Sydney and subsequently a PhD from the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the cultural and aesthetic impact of digital technologies on media production and consumption, audience reception and fan studies. She also has an interest in mediated self-presentation, including online identity presentation and management. In 2012 she was awarded an Endeavour Award Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the Australian Government to undertake research in the area of online identity presentation in Hong Kong. Her work has been published in journals such as Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, and the Australian Edition of the Global Media Journal. She is an advisory board member for the Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies, editorial board member of Participations, and editor of the IAFOR Journal of Media, Communication and Film.

Timothy W. Pollock
Osaka Kyoiku University / Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan

Biography

Timothy W. Pollock currently lectures on film, visual culture and ethics at Osaka Kyoiku University. He received his BA in Religious Studies from the College of William & Mary, United States, and an MA in Applied Linguistics from Monash University, Australia. He has presented papers in fields as diverse as film, semiotic theory, ethics and education, all of which were structured around the central theme of the power of multi-modal, dramatic visual narratives.

His film research is focused on the development of standards and practices in classical Japanese cinema in general, and on the later films of Ozu Yasujiro in particular, while his work in the field of semiotics has focused on the applicability of social semiotic theory to the analysis of Japanese cinema and Japanese visual culture in general.

In ethics and moral philosophy he has analysed how ethical dilemmas are presented in contemporary Hollywood cinema, and how the presentation of these dilemmas within a dramatic, visual narrative influences our reading of them. He is currently investigating how the very modes and frameworks through which ethical dilemmas are communicated can subtly influence the deliberative process of the target audience.

His media work includes appearing in conversation with fellow film historian Stuart Galbraith IV on the new Blu-ray releases of the Akira Kurosawa movies Sanjuro and Red Beard from A Contracorriente Films. As a long-time resident of Japan, he has also worked as an assistant editor on the second edition of the Genius Japanese-English Dictionary.

Previous Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Observation vs. Immersion: Trends in Contemporary Visual Anthropology
Featured Panel Presentation (2018) | The State of Film Studies in Japan
Paul Spicer
Hokkaido University, Japan

Biography

Dr Paul Spicer is currently a lecturer within the Research Faculty of International Media and Communication at Hokkaido University, in Sapporo. Paul's research lies mainly in the areas of film, and cultural studies with a specific focus on the national cinemas of Japan, and the U.K. His work has been published in a variety of leading international publications, and he has presented at a number of conferences and symposiums around the world. In addition to his research on film and culture, he has also published work on popular music, most notably a chapter for Bloomsbury which explores the lyrics of the British singer/songwriter Paul Weller and their relationship to the spiritual and religious. His current research projects include; a study on the relationship between Japanese film and Japanese socio/political issues between 1965 and 1975; and an exploration into the use of the cultural vernacular in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

Gary E. Swanson
University of Northern Colorado, USA (fmr.)

Biography

Gary E. Swanson is the former Mildred S. Hansen Endowed Chair and Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence at the University of Northern Colorado, USA. From 2005-2007 Professor Swanson was a Fulbright scholar to China and lectured at Tsinghua University and the Communication University of China. In summer 2008 he was Commentator for China Central Television International (CCTV-9) and their live coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games. Swanson repeated his assignment covering the London Olympics for CCTV-4 in the summer of 2012. Previously, he was professor and director of television for nine years at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University where he taught mostly graduate broadcast students. He has been an educator for 26 years; 20 years spent teaching at the university level. Swanson is an internationally recognized and highly acclaimed documentary producer, director, editor, photojournalist, consultant and educator. He has given keynote speeches, presented workshopsretd and lectured at embassies, conferences, festivals, and universities throughout China, South Africa, India, Papua New Guinea, Japan, The Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Greece, Germany, Jordan, Spain, Portugal, Peru, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Swanson has compiled a distinguished professional broadcast career spanning 13 years: From 1978 to 1991, Swanson worked for the National Broadcasting Company where he was honored with national EMMYs for producing and editing: The Silent Shame, a prime-time investigative documentary; Military Medicine, a two-part investigative series on NBC News; and Hotel Crime, an investigative news magazine piece. Swanson was an editor for "breaking news and features" for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, the Today Show, Sunrise, Sunday Today, NBC Overnight, A Closer Look, Monitor, and other prime time news magazines. Swanson covered "breaking news" in 26 states and Canada for the network including trips and campaigns of presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton. Swanson was the Fulbright distinguished lecturer and consultant in television news to the government of Portugal in 1989. In 1992, he covered the XXV Olympics in Barcelona, Spain for NBC News as field producer and cameraman. Swanson has earned more than 75 awards for broadcast excellence and photojournalism including three national EMMYs, the duPont Columbia Award, two CINE 'Golden Eagles,' 16 TELLYs, the Monte Carlo International Award, the Hamburg International Media Festival's Globe Award, the Videographer Award, The Communicator Award, the Ohio State Award, the CINDY Award, the 2011 Communitas Outstanding Professor and Educator award, the 2013 Professor of the Year award, and many others. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana with a Bachelor's degree in Education in 1974, and a Master's degree in Journalism in 1993.

Professor Gary E. Swanson is a member of IAFOR’s Academic Governing Board. He is Chair of the Media & Film section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Roundtable/Panel Presentation (2019) | Deepfake

Previous MediAsia Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2017) | Fake News and the Attack on America’s Freedom of the Press