In October 2015, Warren was invited to give lectures at two symposia in Japan.
On Saturday, October 24, he presented at a symposium at the Institut Français du Japon in Kyoto, "Echoes of Elvis — The Destiny and Trajectory of a Cultural Icon under the Globalization Age," organized by Dr. Kosuke Tsuiki of the Institute for Research in the Humanities at Kyoto University. Warren's lecture, entitled The Memphis Monomyth: The Real Rock and Roller, Cultural Obsession, and Archetypal Motifs within Historical Narrative, built on his academic work on Elvis published in Echoes of Elvis: The Cultural Legacy of Elvis Presley (Smithsonian Scholarly Press, 2012) and further explored the mythic and metaphysical discourse surrounding the life of Elvis Presley. The symposium also featured lectures by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato, “Reception and Transmutation of the Presley Voice in Japanese Body Culture,” and Dr. Tanya Jung, “King of the World : Images of Elvis in Translation.”
On Wednesday, October 28, he participated in another symposium in Tokyo, "The Dilemmas Faced by American Museums―The Roles of Collection, Exhibition, and Mass Media." The program was presented at the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, and it was organized by Dr. Saki Yokoyama, Curator of Education at the museum, and sponsored in part by the Embassy of the United States in Japan. Warren's lecture, Museums, Monuments, and Messes: Case Studies in American Cultural Exhibitions and Memorial," explored recent American exhibitions and public displays of history, art and culture that have been controversial and have presented challenges for American museums and other cultural institutions.
