Manga has become a global phenomenon and one of Japan’s most recognizable cultural exports. It has appeal across cultures and generations, and it is a medium of expression that often goes beyond entertainment, challenging the divisions between art, education, and amusement. This lecture introduces manga, its production, and its history to explore the evolution of manga and the ways it interacts with culture and society.
Lindsey Stirek works at Japan House as the Assistant Director of Academic Programming. She is a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and CHP alumna and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Japanese Literature at The Ohio State University. She specializes in premodern Japanese literature and manga, and her current research focuses on manga iterations of the classical Japanese poetic collection Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. She has taught Japanese language and manga at Ohio State and University of Cincinnati, respectively, and is currently teaching courses on manga, anime, and Japanese tea ceremony at the Japan House at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
