Gregg Midon is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of East Asian Studies, specializing in Japan. He holds an M.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona and a B.A. in Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago. As a scholar of Japan, his research explores the performance of power through technologies and popular media—such as writing, narrative, music, and mass media—across premodern and modern contexts. He examines how ideology, ritual, and the state intersect, revealing how creative texts and media shape and reflect social dynamics, particularly in relation to belief systems, gender roles, and popular religion. Using methodologies of close reading, critical geography, and sociocultural historical analysis, his interdisciplinary approach extends to transnational East Asian studies, investigating the cultural and historical exchanges between Japan and Korea. His work also critically explores how communities interact with their natural environments, challenging essentialist narratives about both national identity and the centralization of state power.