by
June 14, 2021

Dr. Dave Tomczyk, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Game Design at Quinnipiac University, focuses his research on a variety of topics ranging from entrepreneurship pedagogy, to motivations for incorporating as alternative business types, to the effects of video games on mindsets and skills. He most recently has presented on how to use board games in the classroom at the Eastern Management Association. Dave sits on the Electronic Gaming Federation's Board of Governors and is in the process of publishing a cooperative board game, Catharsis, which can be found here....

by
June 14, 2021

Dr. Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols, Professor of Spanish at Drury University, specializes in the area of Women and Gender Studies with current research interests in Latin American and International Beauty Practices, Cosplay and Popular Culture. Dr. Nichols is the author of a variety of books, articles and encyclopedia entries in her research fields, including: Popular Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, Beauty, Virtue, Honor and Success in Venezuela 1850-2015 and Beauty Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Dr. Nichols’ current investigations focus on the international practice of cosplay, or “costume-play” in the United States, Mexico and across the Americas. She is a cosplayer herself, a cosplay mom and an advocate for fan-led artistic creativity.  She blogs at www.cosplaymom.com. ...

by
June 14, 2021

After graduating high school in Whistler, B.C., Canada in 2016, with no firm plans for attending university yet, I set my sights on Japan. While spending the next year studying at a Japanese language school in Tokyo, I discovered my passion for translation as I learned to read manga in Japanese. When I felt that my skills were good enough, I began a personal project working directly with artists to translate their manga, which is how I met David Goldberg. He assisted me to gain employment, working with him at J18 Publishing. I also work with Seven Seas Entertainment and indie publisher Glacier Bay Books....

by
June 14, 2021

Brian Baynes lives in Richmond, Virginia, and has published Bubbles Fanzine since 2019. He's been involved in running Richmond Zine Fest since 2012 and is a huge fan of Zippy The Pinhead....

by
June 14, 2021

Dr. Yoni Sobin, PsyD, a self-proclaimed “Nerd Therapist,” is a clinical psychologist in private practice based out of New York City who specializes in treating OCD and anxiety disorders, using cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy approaches. He loves incorporating pop culture directly into the course of a patient’s treatment and using fandom to help patients live their best life. In his spare time, he enjoys Lord of the Rings on repeat, reading graphic novels, and building Lego. Sometimes he tries to move metal with his mind and fails. Yoni finds joy in (over)analyzing the psychological makeup of fictional characters. Dr. Sobin has contributed to “THE JOKER PSYCHOLOGY: EVIL CLOWNS AND THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM,” and joined many...

by
June 14, 2021

Joshua Paul Dale is the author of Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World and a Professor of American Literature and Culture at Chuo University in Tokyo. Since moving to Japan in the 1990s, Dale has pioneered the field of Cute Studies, and has been featured as an expert on cuteness by media outlets such as The New York Times, TED-Ed, CNN, National Geographic, the Guardian, The Cut, Refinery29 and Discover Magazine. His website is at: https://www.cutestudies.org/...

by
June 14, 2021

David Goldberg is the managing editor of manga publisher VAST Visual, and 18+ manga publishers J18 Publishing and Summer Salt. His job is to oversee each manga's translation, lettering, retouch, editing, and preparation for print—in short, he makes the manga machine run smoothly. He also occasionally translates projects himself, even though he doesn't really have the time to do it and should know better. David speaks English, Japanese, and enough Chinese to know when the old ladies in Chinatown are calling him handsome. He lives and works in the Japanese countryside, where he enjoys cooking, running with his friends, and riding his racing bicycle (named Cooper) inadvisably long distances. David is active on twitter under the handle @rotoscopic where he muses about the state...

by
June 14, 2021

Beast is an animator who has worked on a variety of Japanese anime....

by
June 14, 2021

Helalipop Cosplay is a female Muslim cosplayer who incorporates her Bangladeshi heritage and religious background into her creations. She reimagines and transforms mainstream superheroes and villains into female characters that wear hijab and have attire that billow in the wind. When she is not dissecting a character to cosplay, she works as an engineer in New York City....

by
May 20, 2021

Dr. Harpreet Malla, registered psychologist,  identifies as a 1.5 generation Indian-American feminist and enjoys navigating the cultural nuances those experiences have brought her. Dr. Malla has a passion for working with identity development as it pertains to LGBTQ, bicultural, and BIPOC populations and recently has seen a rise in couples navigating arranged or other nontraditional marital practices in her work, including interracial/interfaith couples and those in poly constellations. Dr. Malla is also the Diversity Chair for the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, is currently authoring a book chapter, and has spoken as an educator at several corporations, universities, and conferences. In her spare time, she enjoys delighting in the MCU & DCEU, analyzing narratives and infusing pop psychology in pop culture, making soap, traveling, and...

Casa Con is a 3-day digital event held on Discord For information contact info@nardio.net