Teaching Anime and Manga (Panel)

Cultural Studies and Media Studies / Pedagogy & Professional

Stevi Grimm (Jefferson High School)

This session proposes to look at what has been a persistent but under-represented section of comics studies: manga (Japanese comics), and associated with it, anime (Japanese animation). Access to anime and manga is pervasive: one distributor, CrunchyRoll, has one million yearly paying subscribers, providing electronic access to 50 manga titles translated into English, and 800 anime titles. In partnership with United States distributors such as Viz and Funimation, the vast majority of those anime titles are dubbed into English, making language much less of a barrier of access for teachers--as well as students.


Manga and anime are popular with students, and it is to the benefit of NeMLA audience members to gain a better understanding of such content that appears in their students’ essays. This session will allow experienced teachers and scholars to share strategies for how they incorporate manga and anime into the classroom. Example content to share may include sample lesson plans, syllabi, and assignments.
How can Japanese animation and comics be incorporated into courses in a variety of methodologies, topics, and fields of study? This pedagogical session welcomes proposals that discuss designing assignments and syllabi based on the study of anime and manga.