Cultural Guests of Honor

Alisa Freedman is a professor of Japanese Literature, Cultural Studies, and Gender at the University of Oregon. Her books include Japan on American TV: Screaming Samurai Join Anime Clubs in the Land of the Lost; Tokyo in Transit: Japanese Culture on the Rails and Road; Introducing Japanese Popular Culture (edited textbook); Women in Japanese Studies: Memoirs from a Trailblazing Generation (edited collection of personal stories); Modern Girls on the Go: Gender, Mobility, and Labor in Japan (coedited book); and an annotated translation of Kawabata Yasunari's The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa. She has published around 40 articles on Tokyo studies, youth culture, gender, television, humor as social critique, teaching pedagogies, and digital media, along with 25 translations and co-translations of Japanese literature and guides to teaching and doing research. Alisa has been nationally recognized for excellence in mentoring and enjoys presenting at cultural events like anime cons and Japan festivals.