18 March 2010

The Next Generation of Mythology Panels

I've learned a great deal of late about the art and science of creating and hosting panels. What began as something of a "let's try this out and see what happens" course of action is starting to expand into something quite larger than anything I expected. What was once one panel on Mythology and Anime is now currently 3 panels, with more formulating themselves in my mind all the time. Given than I only host three or so right now, I wonder where this will go in the near future.

But for now, let me update my list of panels for the coming year:

Modern Mythology: Mythic Elements in Anime and Video Games.
The grandfather of most of my panels, the one I spend the most time on, the one I love to give and talk about outside of the con. Modern Mythology has gone through a lot, including a total revamp in the works for the summer con season. It's grown to a point I con no longer contain all the information in just one sitting, so I branch out. This one is running it's final course right now. What will happen, I have no real idea, but giving it has been a learning experience I am grateful to have had.
Going forth this one is most likely going to be stripped down and become "The Monomyth and Japanese Media."

Weekend Nihonjin: Inside the lives of congoing Otaku. This panel started as something of a joke. I applied for it two weeks before Anime Next 09, it got in and I have been hosting it ever since. It has no real form: it was supposed to be a platform for presenting my research, but it is anything but. These days, it still has a very small draw and we sit around telling con stories and sharing humorous anecdotes. I do plan to overhaul this once the thesis is published, but for the time being whatever happens during it happens.

Abraham, Jesus and Shinji: Religion in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The first panel to openly split off from Modern Mythology, this is where I take all the symbolism and imagery and religious "stuff" from Eva and give it a podium of its own. Katsu was a dry run, it went over extremely well and now the panel  has it's own momentum behind it. I look forward to where this one goes, as it has a lot of its own potential to spawn its own "family."

Dead Like Us: Shinigami and the Japanese Experience of Death. The newest panel I have created, and the second spawn off of the Mythology Panel. I would talk about it more, but the title is pretty self explanatory and I want to wait until after I host the test run to see where it goes.

Castles, Forests and Bath Houses: Mythology and the works of Hayao Miyazaki. In the planning stage right now, but this one is a no-brainer. Miyazaki is a big part of Modern Mythology, and he deserves a slot of his own.

So there it is, my updated panel list. Once the new website launches, this will have a space all its own.

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