Japan

Roundtable Session

The Death of Japan Studies

Japan studies in 2019 faces challenges -- some would say "crises" -- unprecedented in its history. Changing geopolitics, the decline of the humanities in the academy, the neoliberal university, the "rise of China," post-Orientalist critiques of area studies, new theoretical approaches and various disciplines' disenchantment with truth claims have all impacted the field. At the same time, Japan's reviving economy, its ascendent soft power and the globalization of its own universities provide Japan studies with new opportunities. This roundtable, consisting of senior and junior scholars from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, will share their generational, institutional and disciplinary perspectives on the state of Japan studies today.

Organizer(s)

• JT

  John Treat

  Yale University

Chair(s)

• KN

  Karen Nakamura

  University of California, Berkeley

Discussant(s)

• VM

  Vera Mackie

  University of Wollongong, Australia
• BD

  Brian Dowdle

  University of Montana
• JF

  Joshua Fogel

  York University, Canada
• SR

  Stefano Romagnoli

  Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
• DB

  Davinder Bhowmik

  University of Washington