College of DuPage Asia Symposium showcases Japanese culture through lectures, performances

The College of DuPage Asia Committee hosts the 33rd Asia Symposium, “Pop Wave: Japan,” from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, in the Student Resource Center, Room 2000, on the Glen Ellyn campus, 425 Fawell Blvd.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. with opening remarks from COD Interim President Christine Hammond and officers from Japan’s Consulate Office.

McAninch Arts Center Director Diana Martinez and Cleve Carney Museum of Art Curator Justin Witte also will provide an overview of the upcoming exhibition “Hokusai & Ukiyo-e: The Floating World,” coming to the museum this summer.

The event will include a series of academic presentations by visiting professors.

At 10 a.m., Michael Bourdaghs, professor of East Asian languages and civilizations at the University of Chicago, will present “When Japanese Pop Music Crosses the Pacific.”

At 11 a.m., Adam Kern, professor of Japanese literature and visual culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will discuss “Are Japanese Manga Really Japanese?!”

At noon, Frenchy Lunning, professor emeritus of liberal arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, will present “Cosplay’s Masked Performance of Multiple Identities.”

A screening of “Miss Hokusai,” the 2015 anime film about the life and works of Hokusai, will take place at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The symposium will conclude with a cultural performance program, beginning at 3 p.m. with an Ikebana demonstration and workshop led by Michiko Kobayashi.

The program will include a fashion show presented by COD’s Asian Student Association, an Aikido demonstration, and a musical performance by the Chicago Koto Group.

For more information, contact COD Psychology Professor Naheed Rouf at hasann@cod.edu.