Histories of “Amateur” Media Practices in East Asia

A conference organized by Prof. Alexander Zahlten; co-sponsored by the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, the Korea Institute, and the Harvard Asia Center

Friday, May 9, 2025
6:00 PM
Harvard Film Archive Screening
Accompanied by discussion with Yoshio Yasui, founder of the Kobe Planet Film Archive
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Saturday, May 10, 2025

9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Keynote Session
Professor Susan Aasman, University of Groningen
Moderator: Alexander Zahlten, Harvard University

11:10 AM – 12:40 PM Panel 1
Moderator: Menglan Chen, Harvard University
Speakers:
Ruijiao Dong, CUNY Graduate Center, In the Name of Amateur: Performing Professionalism in Chinese Theatre in the 1920s
Chloe Estep, University of Pennsylvania, Testing, testing: Amateur Poetry in Modern Chinese Medical Journals
Emily Cole, Boston College, Sunday Photographers in Early Postwar Japan

Lunch podium with Yoshio Yasui of Kobe Planet Film Archive, 1:00 – 1:40

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM Panel 2
Moderator: Jinying Li, Brown University
Speakers:
Seungyeon Gabrielle Jung, University of California, Irvine, DIY Politics: Culture Film, Teaching Aids, and Design
Mark Player, University of Reading, The Professional Amateur: Nakayama Taro and amateur film in 1950s Japan
Akinobu Matsumoto, Waseda University, Beyond Amateur: Radio Producers at Oyako Radio during the US Occupation of Okinawa

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM Panel 3
Moderator: Dingru Huang, Tufts University
Speakers:
Dylan McGee, Nagoya University, Enterprising “Fangirls”: Fan Club Publications and the Media Ecology of Transcultural Science Fiction Fandom in Shōwa Fifties (1975-1984) Japan
Angie Baecker, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Serial Comics and the Third Front: Li Fenglan and the Metatexts of Mass Art
Junko Yamazaki, Princeton University, Kojin Eiga as Invisible Movement, or the Rise of (Non)Alternative Cinema in Japan

Sunday, May 11, 2025

9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Keynote Session
Professor Jamie J. Zhao, City University of Hong Kong
Moderator: Ami Tanahashi, Harvard University

11:10 AM – 12:40 PM Panel 4
Moderator: Patrick Chimenti, Harvard University
Speakers:
Yingchuan Yang, Columbia University, Turning on, Turning off: Genealogies of Amateur Radio in China from Socialism to Postsocialism
Andrea Mariucci, Cornell University, Re-Assembling: An ecology of amateur technologists in Japan, 1980-1990
Shin Mizukoshi, Kansai University, Community of Amateurs Learning from Each Other: Media Biotope, Hackability, and Media Play

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM Panel 5
Moderator: Denise Khor, Northeastern University
Speakers:
Hieyoon Kim, Brown University, Women with Cameras: Amateur Media on the Frontline against Anti-life
Yi Lu, Dartmouth College, History on Sale: Archive Markets and Grassroots Memories in Contemporary China
Akiko Sano, Dōshisha University, Construction of Knowledge by Amateurs: Planet Film Archive and Yasushi Watanabe’s Animation Research

3:45 PM – 5:15 PM Panel 6
Moderator: Paul Roquet, MIT
Speakers:
Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, Yokohama National University, Japanese Swords as (Dis)Communication Sites: Token Ranbu Female Fans ’Practices and Activities
Yi-Chieh Lin, National Chengchi University, From Amateurs to Tastemakers: Examining the Role of Culinary Influencers in Taiwan’s Digital Media Ecosystem
Shiyu Jia & Zaizhou Li, King’s College London; University of Cambridge, Danmei Fan Culture from the Shadows to the Spotlight: Amateur Creation under Platform Capitalization

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM Closing Roundtable

VENUES:
Conference: CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA
Screening: Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA