A Brief History of Anime: A overview of the history of anime, pausing to spotlight key classic series and debunk myths.

Anime Goes to the Movies!: A guide to the often overlooked movies throughout anime’s history. Focuses mostly on recommendations, with clips for reference.

The Art of Emotion: A deconstruction of the varied nature of animation to examine how anime can provoke greater emotion than live action. Key focuses include expressionism and the works of Hayao Miyazaki.

Feminism and Fandom: The current state of feminism is explored and given context through a history of feminism. We then list and discuss current issues in media and fandoms. This panel specifically is designed to examine feminism from an objective and historical perspective, in order to de-politicize the conversation and hopefully educate.

Great Directors of Anime: Brief bios of major directors in the anime industry, using clips to illustrate aspects of their style/themes.

Japanese Horror- Film vs Anime: A comparison of anime and film horror in Japan, looking at the history, key films, and sub-genres of both mediums. Western horror is also contrasted in order to give context to the state of Japanese horror.

OVA: Obscure Video Awesomeness: The craziest collection of Original Video Animation scenes, hopefully illustrating how sex, death, sexy death, and deadly sex were the norm back in the 80s and 90s. The history and economics of this short-lived industry is also explored in-between clips.

Questions of the Heart: A Q&A panel where panelists in varied states of dating/relationships try their darnedest to help settle disputes over dishes.

Two Thumbs Down: A catch-all discussion of the state of criticism on the internet, how geeks play into it, and how to distinguish between the various internet critics.

My interests/specialties include media theory involving anime, horror, and “geek cinema.” Panels can be created relating to these or other requested topics. Want to have me appear at your school, library, or convention? Any appearance inquiries should be directed to jwiderski@gmail.com or 612-644-2816. Keep in mind calls may not be responded to immediately.