October 13th’s Lantern carried an article by Katie Vitek about the Analyzing the Appeal of Manga Club (AAMC): OSU Student Club Explores Graphic Novels
October 28th’s Lantern has another article by Katie Vitek about the Cosplay Club: OSU Students Play Big Roles in Cosplay Club
I serve as faculty adviser for both clubs. AAMC was initiated by students who took my first year seminar, Analyzing the Appeal of Manga. Many of the students in the Cosplay Club also are my former students. Moreover, the author of the two articles, Katie Vitek, also took the seminar in her freshman year. Congratulations to Katie for her great reporting! Also to Hillary Ash, Samantha Hall, Lea Schuffert, Sarah Smith, and everyone in AAMC, as well as to Katrina Webber, Brittany Pawlinski, Lauren Bills, and others in the Cosplay Club. You are contributing to the vibrant intellectual culture at Ohio State!
It is fun for me to watch students build on their interest in manga in different ways. Manga can be a source of inspiration for further research in many different fields. In that regard, there is a famous story that Honda’s efforts to develop a humanoid robot, Asimo, were inspired by Tezuka Osamu’s Astro Boy. Whatever the case, I’ll always be interested in hearing from former students who are pursuing their interest in manga in some way, even tangentially.
