UChi-Con

"There are a number of different ways of defining or imagining what an otaku is a new kind of social relation, a new culture or way of looking at the world, or even a new sort of psychological condition (technofetishism).  In this context, I want to look at the possibility that otaku is a new kind of labour power.   Why? On the one hand, I take this tack because I want to take fan activities seriously.  Fan subs, fan clubs, fan zines, cosplay and other fan activities serve to dramatize the fact the otaku is not a simple consumer but a sort of co-producer.  Indeed, the anime industry is well aware of otaku activities, though sometimes at a loss to deal with them.  On the other hand, I adopt this approach because I wish to think about the global popularity of anime and manga.  In other words, this new kind of "otaku labour" can be linked to global transformations in labour and cultural production."

Thomas Lamarre is currently a professor of East Asian Studies at McGill University.  His research interests lie in the History of Thought, History of Media, and Aesthetics.  His first book, Uncovering Heian Japan: An Archaeology of Sensation and Inscription (2000), looked the relations between calligraphy and poetry at the Heian court.  His second book, Shadows on the Screen: Tanizaki Jun’ichirô on Cinema and Oriental Aesthetics (2005), deals with silent film, filmtheory and literature in the 1920s centering on the film work of Tanizaki.  He has also written a series of articles on anime, among them "From animation to anime," "Otaku Movement," and "Digital Animation and the Repetition of Cinema." Currently, he is working with Thomas Looser on an introduction to anime entitled Anime: Myth, Genre, Media as well as a book on the history and aesthetics of manga films called simply, The Manga Film. 

Dirk I. Tiede is the creator of Paradigm Shift, an online manga published at dynamanga.net. Since its initial appearance one the web in 1999, Paradigm Shift has been distinguished as a founding flagship title on the premiere webcomics service, ModernTales.com in 2002, seen its first installment, Part One: Equilibrium, printed as a graphic novel, appeared in Toon Art: The Art of Digital Comics in 2003, and received overwhelming praise from publications such as NewType USA and MoviePoopshoot.com. Dirk currently lives and works in Chicago as a cartoonist and professional illustrator, and is hard at work getting his second book finished.

C. Spike Trotman & Matt Sheridan: Iron Circus C. Spike Trotman was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the Maryland suburbs, where everything is very, very boring. You would learn to draw, too. Trust me. She published her first minicomics in high school, and currently has five series in production: "Sparkneedle" and "Lucas &Odessa" for Girlamatic.com, "Blikada," a private project for her own domain, Ironcircus.com, "Templar," scheduled to launch on Webcomics Nation, and "Abraham Todd, " currently running in "Tastes Like Chicken" magazine, The monthly Chicago-area newspaper "Third Coast Press," and the zine "Noxious Minutiae."