{"id":7425,"date":"2026-03-30T20:17:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/?p=7425"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:17:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:17:25","slug":"joshua-mallard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/","title":{"rendered":"Joshua Mallard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n \n
\n\n \n

 <\/p>\n

Joshua Mallard<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Why did you decide to do a MA\/Major in East Asian Area Studies (EAAS)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was such an easy decision because I earned my undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies with a focus on Japanese language and literature. Japanese popular media has been integral to shaping my interests, hobbies, and life in general. I did my senior project on Japanese Sci-Fi at the time, while studying Japanese up to the senior level, and knew I would continue in that capacity. Japanese is my second language, and I have been doing my best to continue studying it on my own time throughout the program.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there any EAAS-related courses or events that have been particularly memorable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most memorable EAAS are my East Asian in Cross-Cultural Studies and my Japanese Fiction courses. Both were taught by my thesis Chair. This time was a pivotal moment for my research. Professor Yasar helped me find the foundation of my research in Japanese popular media theory. I attended the <\/span>Exploring Careers in Policy Think Tanks<\/span><\/a> conference<\/span> with a cohort and friend in the spring semester of 2024. I met Mireya Solis and purchased her book, Japan\u2019s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific.<\/span> I also enjoyed the various EAAS mixers and luncheons where I got to spend time with my cohort, other students and EAAS staff I\u2019ve met along the way. Some of them have moved on, but we stay in touch and hang out sometimes. I am very grateful to have been selected to be a scholar in this program. I am proud to join the Dornsife alumni family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you tell us about your research focus or interests? Is there any project\/internship\/work you are currently working on that you would like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My research explores the intersection of Japanese popular media, fan culture, and Black speculative thought. My Master\u2019s thesis examines Black engagement with anime, manga, and gaming through the theoretical frameworks of Hiroki Azuma\u2019s database model, \u014ctsuka Eiji\u2019s narrative consumption, and Afrofuturism. I argue that Black otaku practices transform derivative fan engagement into acts of speculative world-building that challenge traditional assumptions about fandom, media consumption, and cultural belonging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally this is very personal to my own story, so I have a stake in the success of the work I am doing. My focus is grounded in theory and philosophical rhetoric, but it also includes a civic component. I am currently a member of the Annenberg Transnational Fandom Group, which is chaired by Professors Henry Jenkins and Sangita Shresthova, the latter of whom is on my thesis committee. I took Professor Jenkins PhD course, Comms 658 – Science Fiction as Method, during my program, which helped me shape my research into something with current social and civic relevance. \u00a0I hope to publish some of my research and make an impact within the internal Civic Pathways team, a subgroup of the broader group.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have any advice for incoming students?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Come as you are. If you are accepted into this program, you are meant to be here. After completing the required pro seminar in my first semester, I still didn\u2019t know which direction to take with my research. My classmates during the course gave me a lot of encouragement, but I still felt a little lost. I had to do a bit of soul searching, and it wasn\u2019t until my third semester that I really felt like I figured out a starting point. Incoming students may expect a rigid program, but they will quickly learn that they are given plenty of room for expression. \u00a0Find out what the work you do in class means to you and go from there.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are your plans after graduation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I plan to continue my research and remain active with the Annenberg TFG, and I want to finish writing a book or two soon. \u00a0I am also a full-time staff member at USC and will continue my IT career path. I plan to continue releasing music in both English and Japanese, and I plan to take on more composition and production projects. \u00a0I released a J-pop song last year in the Spring during my studies called <\/span>\u5909\u306a\u96f2<\/span> (henna kumo), which means ‘strange cloud’. It is available on all streaming platforms. I have the single art cover attached. I have been releasing music in Japanese since undergrad. I was in a hip-hop group many years ago, and we rapped in Japanese. I also want to expand my creative media capabilities beyond audio to include visual media.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n \n \n
\n\n \n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":992,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJoshua Mallard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joshua Mallard - East Asian Studies Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"East Asian Studies Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T20:17:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T20:17:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bennava\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"bennava\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9a72c61d3a0a999222547b40cd080fc4\"},\"headline\":\"Joshua Mallard\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-30T20:17:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T20:17:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/\",\"name\":\"Joshua Mallard - East Asian Studies Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-30T20:17:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T20:17:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9a72c61d3a0a999222547b40cd080fc4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/30\\\/joshua-mallard\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Joshua Mallard\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"East Asian Studies Center\",\"description\":\"USC Dornsife East Asian Studies Center\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9a72c61d3a0a999222547b40cd080fc4\",\"name\":\"bennava\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c1897eb4be93ab82e528e7f610754c8d09c5fc3befbd08fc82f1c2e39f95e0bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c1897eb4be93ab82e528e7f610754c8d09c5fc3befbd08fc82f1c2e39f95e0bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c1897eb4be93ab82e528e7f610754c8d09c5fc3befbd08fc82f1c2e39f95e0bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bennava\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/eascenter\\\/author\\\/bennava\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Joshua Mallard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Joshua Mallard - East Asian Studies Center","og_url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/","og_site_name":"East Asian Studies Center","article_published_time":"2026-03-30T20:17:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-30T20:17:25+00:00","author":"bennava","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/"},"author":{"name":"bennava","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/#\/schema\/person\/9a72c61d3a0a999222547b40cd080fc4"},"headline":"Joshua Mallard","datePublished":"2026-03-30T20:17:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-30T20:17:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/"},"wordCount":2,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/","name":"Joshua Mallard - East Asian Studies Center","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-30T20:17:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-30T20:17:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/#\/schema\/person\/9a72c61d3a0a999222547b40cd080fc4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/2026\/03\/30\/joshua-mallard\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Joshua Mallard"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/","name":"East Asian Studies Center","description":"USC Dornsife East Asian Studies Center","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/#\/schema\/person\/9a72c61d3a0a999222547b40cd080fc4","name":"bennava","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1897eb4be93ab82e528e7f610754c8d09c5fc3befbd08fc82f1c2e39f95e0bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1897eb4be93ab82e528e7f610754c8d09c5fc3befbd08fc82f1c2e39f95e0bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1897eb4be93ab82e528e7f610754c8d09c5fc3befbd08fc82f1c2e39f95e0bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bennava"},"url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/author\/bennava\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7428,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7425\/revisions\/7428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eascenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}