Robert Buscher

Rob Buscher, Board Chair of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is a film and media specialist, educator, arts administrator, and published author who has worked in non-profit arts organizations for over a decade. As a person of biracial Japanese American heritage who is deeply involved in his community, Rob also has an expertise in cultural sensitivity training, community organizing, and advocacy issues related to the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Robʼs expertise is Japanese and Asian American & Pacific Islander Cinema although he has worked as a professional film programmer, critic, and lecturer across a variety of fields. Some of his career highlights include growing Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival into an internationally recognized leader in the film festival circuit (2013-2019), developing the Japanese Cinema and Asian American Studies curriculum at Arcadia University (2012-2018), and co-founding Zipangu Fest - the UKʼs first Japanese Film Festival (2009-2014). Rob currently lectures at University of Pennsylvania, and is a contributing writer at Pacific Citizen and Broad Street Review.

Education

MA Japanese Studies with a Focus in Japanese Cinema School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

BA Communications with a Minor in Art, Design, and Media Richmond: The American International University in London

Certificate of Completion, Japanese Language Intermediate Level, Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language  

Research Interests

Japanese Modernity, US-Japan Relations, Japanese American Incarceration, Asian American Activism, Japanese Cinema, Asian American Cinema, Propaganda Studies, Critical Mixed Race Studies, Immigration Rights Movement, Transnational Cultural Movements, Asian American Food Culture

Courses Taught

ASAM 208 Fighting for Representation: The Asian American Cinema Movement

Fall Semesters

ASAM 110 Asian American Activism  

Spring Semesters

Selected Publications
Affiliations

Board Chair - Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival 

Chapter President - Japanese American Citizens League Philadelphia Chapter

Editorial Board Chair - Pacific Citizen, the JACL's national newspaper