Laura Perna
received her BA from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005 and then found herself at New York University, seeking new adventures in the Italian Studies Department. There, she?s currently completing her MA thesis on contemporary Italian comics, and hopes to continue with the study of marginalized and informal modes of communication in Western popular culture.
James Zeigler
is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, where he teaches English 3403 The Graphic Novel as well as courses on the literature and culture of the Americas. He is presently completing Modernity Undone, a book on public intellectuals and the political culture of the Cold War.
Michael Goodrum
is a second year PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Essex. His research interests lie in the connections between traumatic incidents in US history and superhero narratives, investigating how they are shaped by, and also help to shape, discourses on these incidents.
John A. Lent
publishes and edits International Journal of Comic Art, which he founded ten years ago. He has authored 70 books and hundreds of articles, many on comic art, and has lectured on the subject all over the world.
Ahu Paköz
received her Masters degree in Middle East Studies at the Middle East Technical University, Turkey. During her studies, she spent a semester at the Leiden University, in the Departments of Sociology & Cultural Anthropology, and Middle East studies. She is interested in gender studies, cultural theory and history, globalization and culture, and Middle Eastern politics and culture, especially focusing on Turkey and Iran Relations and Literature.
Mio Bryce
is senior lecturer and Head of Asian Studies at Macquarie University. She is interested in Japanese language and cultures, especially historical, socio-cultural and psychological issues depicted in fiction. She has developed and taught four manga related units: "Japan's Contemporary Culture through Manga", "Manga and Representation of Identity", "Manga: Global Imagery" and "Manga and Anime". She is involved in interdisciplinary research into youth cultures in conjunction with the English Department at Macquarie University.
Jason Davis
is a liaison librarian at Macquarie University. He has been working with Dr Mio Bryce since 2003 and has co-authored a chapter with her in Manga : An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives to be published in 2009 by Continuum.
Christie Barber
is a PhD Candidate and Associate Lecturer in Japanese Studies at Macquarie University. Her research focuses on issues related to the representation of gender and the female body in manga and anime. She is also interested in manga and anime in translation, and teaches "Manga: Global Imagery."
Peter Doyle
teaches writing in the Media Department, Macquarie University. His recent publications include City of Shadows: Sydney Police Photographs 1912-1948 (HHT, 2005) and Echo and Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900-1960 (Wesleyan, 2005).