Paul Anderer

Mack Professor of Humanities
Professor of Japanese Literature

Office: 414 Kent Hall
Office Hours: F 3:00-5:00 or by appointment
Phone: (212) 854-1525
Email: pja1@columbia.edu

Educational Background

BA: Michigan University (’71)
MA: Chicago University (’72)
PhD: Yale University (’79)

Classes Taught

AHUM UN1400 Colloquium on Major Texts: East Asia
EAAS UN3901 Senior Thesis
JPNS GR8020 Graduate Seminar in Modern Japanese Literature

Research Interests

Japanese fiction, film, and cultural criticism
Asian Humanities

Paul Anderer joined the Columbia faculty in 1980. From 1989 until 1997, he was the chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. He has also served the University as Vice Provost for International Relations, as Associate Vice-President for Academic Planning and Global Initiatives in the Arts and Sciences, and as Acting Dean of the Graduate School. He has written numerous articles exploring the culture of the city (Tokyo) and Japanese modernity. His work has been awarded support from the NEH, the SSRC, and the Fulbright Commission. He is currently writing a book on the black and white films of Kurosawa Akira, in their relationship to the Japanese post-war and to the era of silent film-making.

Selected Publications

Kurosawa’s Rashomon: A Vanished City, a Lost Brother, and the Voice Inside His Iconic Films (Pegasus, 2016)

Literature of the Lost Home: Kobayashi Hideo-Literary Criticism, 1924-1939 (Stanford, 1995)

Other Worlds: Arishima Takeo and the Bounds of Modern Japanese Fiction (Columbia, 1984)