In his guest lecture Popular Culture in Japan and South Korea: Learn, Adapt, Overcome Professor Didvalis presented the development of popular culture in Japan and South Korea, showing how consumerism, economy, creativity and global appeal intersect in these highly influential cultural industries.

A particularly valuable aspect of the lecture was its critical perspective: popular culture was not addressed only through its attractive, shiny and internationally successful image, but also through some of its less visible and more problematic dimensions. The lecture was followed by a brief but stimulating discussion, which opened up several pressing issues related to Japanese and South Korean popular culture, including labour exploitation, sexual harassment and broader relations of power within cultural industries.

The guest lecture offered students valuable insight into contemporary East Asian popular-cultural phenomena, while also encouraging a critical reflection on the relationship between global cultural appeal, market success and the social contradictions of popular culture.