Keynote Speakers
Asst. Prof. Kohki Watabe, M.A., Ph.D.
Kohki Watabe is an Assistant Professor in the International and Advanced Japanese Studies Program at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba. His research focuses on cinema and media studies, cultural studies, and popular culture, with a particular interest in the intersections of Japanese media and global cultural dynamics.
Prof. Glecy Cruz Atienza
Glecy C. Atienza is a Full Professor at the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, University of the Philippines, where she teaches Philippine literature, creative writing and Philippine theater. She is a performing artist-director-playwright-essayist and theater scholar. She is also a multi-awarded writer of plays, creative non-fiction, and scholarly research. Prof. Atienza is the founding chair of a community theater network, the ALYANSA, Inc.
Assoc. Prof. Michelle J. Smith
Michelle J. Smith is a scholar of Victorian literature and children’s and young adult fiction, with research interests in femininity in 19th-century print culture and transnational children’s literature. She is the author of Consuming Female Beauty (2022) and co-editor of several volumes, including Literary Cultures and Nineteenth-Century Childhoods (2024). Currently, she is researching 19th-century editions of Aladdin as a Bechtel Visiting Professor at the University of Florida.
Asst. Prof. Amaliatun Saleha, Ph.D.
Amaliatun Saleha is a lecturer in Japanese studies at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran. Her research focuses on contemporary Japanese literature and popular culture, particularly the representation of social issues. She teaches courses on Japanese studies methodology. Currently, Amaliatun Saleha is also the Chair of the Japanese Studies Program at the faculty.