Selected Topics in Cultural Studies

In recent times, gamified media has seen a rise in popularity, particularly in Japan. Among Japanese youth, one manifestation of this trend is the expansion of original media content to create fanfiction content. This process changes passive consumers into active agents with the ability to advance society. However, no appropriate model currently exists for investigating and exploring this phenomenon in contemporary anime, comics, and games. Thus, Selected Topics in Cultural Studies begins by discussing how cultural content can be exploited for designing alternate reality experiences. Next, the authors explore and explain strategic sociopolitical and cultural roles in the educational processes and their effects. Focus is placed on the philosophical-epistemological opposition of humanism/structuralism, materialism/idealism, and person/society, with variables of domination/subordination, power/resistance, stability/dynamics, global/ local, North/South, and so on. The concluding study is significant for its inquiries into comparative instructional approaches for effective mathematics learning from the perspective of cognitive load imposition. The authors' examination of an in-class intervention has clarified the myth concerning cross-cultural differences in perceptions, appreciation, and understanding of different instructional approaches.