Don't ask, don't tell

INSTRUCTIONS: Select two out of the following three questions, or invent your own. (90 minutes, 50%)

Question 1. I chair an anime convention whose mission statement, like many other conventions, includes the promotion of Japanese culture. This is accomplished both by the convention and volunteer panelists through events such as matsuri themes, tea ceremonies, and the Let's Talk Shinsengumi Hour. Please explain in 500 words or less whether this may risk reinforcing a fetishistic approach towards "understanding" the culture of Japan, and whether this is in fact inferior to any other approach that could be undertaken in this format.

Question 2: Anime is cool. Manga is cool. Japan is cool. Japanese characters are cool. Especially if they are babes. I am a white college student in New Hampshire who has created a webcomic based on precisely this philosophy, and I am not alone. Please explain in 500 words or less what this could or should mean, if anything, for Japanese Asian-Americans; for non-Japanese Asian-Americans; and whether Asian-Americans in general should consider the fad for things Japanese to be a positive sign, another wave of Oriental exoticism, a combination of the above, or none of the above.

Question 3: I am a teenager in Kenya who does not speak fluent English, but I am obsessed with American network TV. It is far superior to anything on Kenyan TV. Please explain in 500 words or less how my love of American network TV will grant me a deeper understanding of what it means to be American, thus fostering my cross-cultural competence, and how American network TV carries a unique message of female empowerment that I find refreshing.

Extra Credit, Option A: If you selected Question 1, please explain in 250 words or less why I, as convention chairman, should be free to exclude the consideration of any or all Asian/Asian-American issues and concerns from the planning, staffing, content, and execution of my Japanese culture event.