Asian Ethnology Podcast

Asian Ethnology Podcast introduces the work of scholars who have contributed to, or published in, the international peer-reviewed journal Asian Ethnology. It also introduces scholars and individuals whose work aligns with the topical categories of the journal.

Interview with Peter Knecht, former editor of Asian Folklore Studies 12/20/2021

Interview with Peter Knecht, former editor of Asian Folklore Studies Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/21538625

Interview with John Powers 04/01/2021

Interview with John Powers Interviewer: Ben Dorman In this episode, John Powers (Deakin University) discusses an interdisciplinary project involving historians, anthropologists, scientists, and folklorists concerning rivers that originate in Tibet, which play a key role in global hydrological cycles yet are in crises as a result of multiple threats. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/18444764

Interview with Susanne Klien 03/11/2021

Interview with Susanne Klien Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 11 March 2011 In this episode, anthropologist Susanne Klien discusses her recent book Urban Migrants in Rural Japan: Between Agency and Anomie in a Post-growth Society (SUNY Press, 2020). She touches on her motivations for doing the research, the reasons for migrants relocating to rural areas, and some of the challenges they face after relocation, amongst other issues. She also addresses some questions that were asked in a book talk given on 22 February 2021 that was part of the . /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/18280712

Interview with Steven Fedorowicz 03/01/2021

Interview with Steven Fedorowicz Interviewer: Mark Bookman Recorded: Wednesday Feb 17th 2021 This episode features a discussion with Steven Fedorowicz, cultural anthropologist, visual anthropologist, and associate professor at Kansai Gaidai University. Steven will be giving a talk on “Representations of Deaf People in Japan: Inspiration, Outrage and Real Life,” as part of the “Disability and Japan in the Digital Age Series” via Zoom on May 14, 2021 (Details to follow). In discussing some of what he will be presenting, Steven talks about his ongoing project concerning media representations of deaf people and culture in Japan, and his introduction to his studies on and experiences with deaf communities. He also touches on his personal experiences that his understandings and approaches to deaf communities and disability studies. Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2021, Asian Ethnology Podcast /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/18130703

Interview with Frank Mondelli 11/26/2020

Interview with Frank Mondelli Interviewer: Mark Bookman Date recorded: 26 October 2020 This episode of Asian Ethnology Podcast features Frank Mondelli, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Frank recently returned from research in Japan and is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on the social, technical, and political history of assistive technologies for deafness and hearing impairment in 20th century Japan. Frank discusses his recent work on the history of hearing aids in 1950s Japan, how he became interested in assistive technology, and how thinking about assistive technology can help us think about accessibility and inclusivity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode is part of the "Disability and Japan in the Digital Age" project run through the Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University. Publications discussed in this episode Mills, Mara and Jonathan Sterne. in Disability Media Studies, ed. Elizabeth Ellcessor and Bill Kirkpatrick /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/16838168

Interview with Mark Bookman 11/23/2020

Interview with Mark Bookman Interviewer: Ben Dorman Date recorded: 3 November 2020 In this episode, Mark Bookman discusses a new series of lectures entitled "Disability and Japan in the Digital Age," which is run through the Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University. He talks about the significance of the series at this time. Mark will also be presenting interviews with the participants in Asian Ethnology Podcast episodes. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/16838240

Interview with Yoshiko Okuyama 08/24/2020

Interview with Yoshiko Okuyama In this episode Yoshiko Okuyama talks about her most recent monograph, Reframing Disability in Manga (University of Hawai’i Press, 2020). Okuyama explains that her work examines representations of disabled people in manga serialized throughout the 1990s and 2000s, focusing on portrayals of deaf, blind, paraplegic, and autistic individuals, as well as those with gender dysphoria. Bookman asks Okuyama about the history behind her project and the logic that guided her decision-making regarding specific manga titles and disability identities. The two also unpack the contributions of Reframing Disability for scholars of gender, disability, and manga. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/15729476

Interview with Andreas Riessland 07/13/2020

Interview with Andreas Riessland In this episode anthropologist Andreas Riessland discusses his research on Japanese biker gangs (bōsōzoku) and a project involving Shugendō Buddhist and Shinto groups that ended in failure due to various struggles between the groups. He also discusses how he came to terms with the failure, and offers advice to researchers who confront “failure” in fieldwork. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/15196133

Interview with David Faure and He Xi 06/17/2020

Interview with David Faure and He Xi Interviewer: Thomas David DuBois In this episode, we speak with China historians David Faure and He Xi of the Chinese University of Hong Kong about historical anthropology. Faure discusses the university's Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society AOE, and assesses what it accomplished in its eight-year run. He Xi explains how fieldwork shaped her perspective on China's boat communities and her recent book on lineages in Jiangxi. Publications discussed in this episode He Xi, Lineage and Community in China, 1100-1500: Genealogical Innovation in Jiangxi, London: Routledge, 2020. The Fisher Folk of Late Imperial and Modern China: An Historical Anthropology of Boat-and-Shed Living, Xi He & David Faure eds., London: Routledge, 2016. Music used with kind permission of guqin performer Yan Yiqiao. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/14824556

Interview with Gopalan Ravindran 06/05/2020

Interview with Gopalan Ravindran In this episode, Gopalan Ravindran, Professor and Head of Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Madras, talks about media literacy in India in general, his initial interest in journalism and communication, and then discusses two specific initiatives related to media literacy and journalism among marginalized communities in Southern India. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/14707421

Interview with Jin Feng 04/30/2020

Interview with Jin Feng In this episode, we speak with Jin Feng, Professor of literature at Grinnell College, Iowa, and author of a new book on Chinese foodways. Jin discusses how the experience of leading a study trip to China and Russia helped shape her personal interest in food into a research program, how she expanded her circle of foodie friends into a professional network of chefs and restaurant entrepreneurs, and how themes of gender and nostalgia recur across centuries of writing about food. Publications discussed in this episode: Feng, Jin. Tasting Paradise on Earth: Jiangnan Foodways (University of Washington Press, 2019). Currid-Halkett, Elizabeth. The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class (Princeton University Press, 2017) Music used with kind permission of guqin performer Yan Yiqiao. Copyright 2020 by Asian Ethnology Podcast /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/14212286

Interview with Mark Bookman 04/04/2020

Interview with Mark Bookman This episode features Mark Bookman, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and a visiting researcher at the university of Tokyo. Mark is completing his doctoral dissertation on the history of disability policy and related social movements in Japan. Mark discusses his personal challenges researching while using a wheelchair, changing research topics from Buddhism to disability in Japan, and accessibility issues related to COVID-19, including “transnational accessibility.” Discussed in this episode: Bookman, Mark, and Michael Gillan Peckitt. “.” Japan Times, 30 March 2020. Bookman, Mark. “.” TEDxFulbrightTokyo, March 2019. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/13843019

Interview with Thomas David DuBois 03/25/2020

Interview with Thomas David DuBois This episode features historian Thomas David DuBois, who is currently Professor of Humanities at Beijing Normal University. Thomas discusses his original reasons for studying China, the application of historical anthropology in his work, his interest and work in Chinese food, the effect of the death of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain had on his thinking about human relations and food, and finally thoughts on living under the current circumstances of coronavirus and quarantine in Beijing. Publications discussed in this episode: DuBois, Thomas David. Empire and the Meaning of Religion in Northeast Asia: Manchuria 1900–1945 (Cambridge, 2017). DuBois, Thomas David, and Jan Kiely, eds. Fieldwork in Modern Chinese History: A Research Guide (Routledge, 2019). Feng, Jin. Tasting Paradise on Earth: Jiangnan Foodways (University of Washington Press, 2019). /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/13690598

Interview with McComas Taylor 03/04/2020

Interview with McComas Taylor In this episode of Asian Ethnology Podcast, McComas Taylor, Associate Professor and Reader in Sanskrit at the Australian National University, discusses how his research lies at the intersection of contemporary critical theory and Sanskrit narrative texts. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/13212320

Interview with Roald Maliangkay 02/17/2020

Interview with Roald Maliangkay This Asian Ethnology Podcast episode features Roald Maliangkay of the Korea Institute at the ANU College of Asia & the Pacific. In this episode, Roald talks about his interest in anti-Japanese folksongs in Korea during the colonial period as well as K-Pop and the contemporary scene. He discusses about his monograph, (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2017), and how Japanese colonial rule affected cultural policy, the system of preservation, and the way in which music is conceived and performed. He also talks about how he applies the concept of “cultural cringe” in the context of Korean society. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/13180286

Interview with Tom Bauerle 01/22/2020

Interview with Tom Bauerle This episode’s guest is Tom Bauerle, the author of "Kanashibari: True Encounters with the Paranormal in Japan." Although this is not an academic work, the author discusses the folkloric elements of ghost stories, in addition to presenting some of the content of his book. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6259155

Interview with Guha Shankar 08/26/2019

Interview with Guha Shankar Interviewer: Ben Dorman, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 22 March 2018, Washington D.C. This episode's guest is Guha Shankar, Folklife Specialist at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Asian Ethnology Editorial Board. Episode Summary Intro :32 Association with Frank Korom, co-editor of Asian Ethnology 3:50 The story behind the film Hosay Trinidad 6:20 Graduate studies in anthropology 11:06 Work at the American Folklife Center; how the Center has evolved 16:15 Resources at the Center 28:00 Publications and films discussed in this episode Film Bishop, John and Korom, Frank J. Hosay Trinidad. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources, 1999. Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2019 by Asian Ethnology Podcast /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/10993409

Interview with Ian Reader (part 1) 12/16/2018

Interview with Ian Reader (part 1) Intro :35 Religion in contemporary Japan since the publication of Religion in Contemporary Japan (1991) 4:15 Lack of evidence concerning “new spirituality movements”; the importance of considering decline in popularity of religion 5:45 Revisiting Agonshū since the death of the founder; work with religious studies scholar Erica Baffelli 11:39 Transformation of Agonshū founder and leader Kiriyama into “the second Buddha”; the aging of Agonshū 13:40 Problems with the category of Japanese “new religions” 15:15 Issues related to succession after the death of the founder; commemoration, veneration, and implicit nationalism in Agonshū 19:50 Work on Aum Shinrikyō and the impact of the Aum affair of 1995; religion and violence 25:05 Religions, mind control, and the “anti-cult” movement in Japan 28:08 Outro 28:36 /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6404105

Aum Shinrikyō Executions in Japan 07/10/2018

Aum Shinrikyō Executions in Japan This episode's guests are Ian Reader, professor emeritus of The University of Manchester, and Erica Baffelli, senior lecturer in Japanese Studies who is also at The University of Manchester. Ian Reader's work on Aum Shinrikyō is widely known in Japan and overseas. Erica Baffelli is also well-known for her work on media and post-Aum religions (Aleph and Hikari no Wa) as well as work with former Aum members. The interviews were conducted on 6 July, 2018, the day the Japanese government released news of the executions of the leader of Aum Shinrikyō, Asahara Shōkō, and 6 other major figures in the organization. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6794547

Interview with Erica Baffelli 07/04/2018

Interview with Erica Baffelli This episode's guest is Erica Baffelli, senior lecturer in Japanese Studies at The University of Manchester. Erica’s research interests include religion in contemporary Japan, new religions, religion and media, and religion, women and violence. She discusses her work interviewing members of Japanese new religions and the issues researchers face. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6774267

Interview with Benjamin Dorman (meet the co-editors, part 2 of 2) 03/26/2018

Interview with Benjamin Dorman (meet the co-editors, part 2 of 2) In this second episode in the Editors’ Interviews, Ben Dorman discusses his research interest in Japanese new religions and media, and his experiences working as the associate editor for <i>Asian Folklore Studies</i> and <i>Asian Ethnology</i>. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6409190

Interview with Frank Proschan 03/24/2018

Interview with Frank Proschan Interviewer: Frank Korom, co-editor Asian Ethnology Recorded 24 March 2018, Washington DC Intro :59 Early interest in anthropology, folklore, and folklife; work at the Smithsonian Institution 2:23 Study at The University of Texas 3:42 Learning and speaking languages; return to the Smithsonian 11:18 Travel to Southeast Asia; programs at the Smithsonian; work on the Kammu 15:19 Move to Indiana University’s Research Center for Semiotics and Language Studies; Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and “Save Our Sounds” Project (Smithsonian) 21:10 Work at the office responsible for implementing UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 26:45 Negative “baggage” related to terms like folklore,” the introduction of “intangible cultural heritage,”and examples from different countries 34:55 Preserving intangible cultural heritage: Issues related to implementation 39:40 Outro 50:21 Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi. Copyright 2019 by Asian Ethnology Podcast /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6404091

Interview with Patrick McCartney 02/02/2018

Interview with Patrick McCartney This episode's guest is Patrick McCartney, who is working on a post-doctoral project at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, titled “Yoga Scapes: The Economics of Imagination and Utopian Aspirations of Transglobal Yoga in Japan.” /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6216977

A Conversation with Joy Hendry 01/06/2018

A Conversation with Joy Hendry This episode's guest is Joy Hendry, emeritus professor of anthropology at Oxford Brookes University. Joy discusses her experiences and research related to early childhood education in Japan in the early 1980s. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6121131

Interview with Clark Chilson 01/06/2018

Interview with Clark Chilson This episode's guest is Clark Chilson, associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh. Clark discusses his experiences studying anthropology in Japan, his research interests that include secrecy and a form of Buddhist psychology called naikan ("introspection"), and his time working as the associate editor of Asian Folklore Studies, the predecessor of Asian Ethnology. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/6120609

Welcome to Asian Ethnology Podcast 12/01/2017

Welcome to Asian Ethnology Podcast The co-editor of Asian Ethnology, Ben Dorman, presents a brief history of the journal and the reasons for launching Asian Ethnology Podcast. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/5998120

Interview with Keller Kimbrough 11/30/2017

Interview with Keller Kimbrough This episode's guest is Keller Kimbrough, professor of Japanese at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Keller Kimbrough’s research interests include the literature and art of late-Heian, medieval, and early Edo-period Japan. He discusses, amongst other publications, his work in Asian Folklore Studies and Asian Ethnology. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/5859346

Interview with Frank J. Korom (meet the co-editors, part 1 of 2) 11/27/2017

Interview with Frank J. Korom (meet the co-editors, part 1 of 2) This is the first of two episodes featuring interviews with the co-editors. Frank Korom discusses the influence of his immigration experience on his research, his work published in Asian Folklore Studies and Asian Ethnology, and the various research projects he has been involved with, including a stint working as a museum curator. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/5981812

Interview with Peter Knecht, former editor of Asian Folklore Studies 11/02/2017

Interview with Peter Knecht, former editor of Asian Folklore Studies Peter Knecht was the editor of Asian Folklore Studies from 1980 until 2007. The journal changed its name to Asian Ethnology in 2008. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/5902783

Interview with Scott Schnell 10/17/2017

Interview with Scott Schnell Scott Schnell, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa and former co-editor of Asian Ethnology, discusses his experiences as a field worker and his research on Japan. /episode/index/show/asianethnology/id/5848264

Asian Ethnology Podcast

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