In/Visible Urban Ecologies: Mediation, Materiality and Metabolism in Contemporary Japan
2018 Seed Grant
Award Period: 2018-2020
Franz Prichard, assistant professor of East Asian studies, is examining the contemporary transformations of Japan’s urban and media ecologies. A recent proliferation of analog and digital photography, anime, video games and video art not only depict, but also reflect upon and generate new perspectives about changes in Japan’s urban and media environments. Prichard’s project engages the emerging fields of urban humanities, environmental humanities and studies of science and technology by exploring these visual media as texts that make “in/visible” urban ecologies sensible. Questions about urban change, the social impact of technology, and environmental disasters abound in Japan’s advanced and sophisticated media culture, which provides real insights on the uneven societal and environmental benefits/costs of technology and urbanization. Prichard is developing a humanities-based understanding of the challenges facing, and the possibilities for, a more sustainable urban future for everyone as it is envisioned by contemporary Japanese media.
Educational Impacts
A goal of this project is to generate collaborations across campus among researchers interested in working on issues related to urban and environmental transformation. Prichard plans to use this interdisciplinary approach to develop undergraduate-research opportunities in urban and media ecologies, including summer internships centered on intensive research. The project also will recruit undergraduate/graduate research assistants for collaborative research during the academic year. Prichard will use his findings to redesign his upper-level undergraduate seminar, EAS 303: “Japanese Film and Media Studies: In/Visible Ecologies.”
Participating Department
Participants
