Japanese History

Combining the resources of faculty in EALAC and the Department of History, the degree program in Japanese History covers all periods up until the present. It forms part of the interdepartmental “History–East Asia” program, to which students may apply either through EALAC or the Department of History. Applications through either department are reviewed as part of the same pool.

David Lurie teaches broadly on pre-modern and early-modern Japanese history and culture, with research interests that include the history of writing systems; dictionaries and encyclopedias; linguistic thought; myth formation; epigraphy and archeology; and cultural, intellectual, and literary history writ large. Gregory Pflugfelder focuses his teaching and research on early-modern and modern Japanese history, with an emphasis on cultural history; the history of gender, sexuality, and the body; and constructions of monstrosity. Carol Gluck specializes in nineteenth-century Japanese history, with broad expertise on social and cultural history, intellectual history, war and empire, history and memory, and the genealogies and practices of history-writing within and beyond Japan. Paul Kreitman’s teaching centers primarily on twentieth-century history; his research specializations include environmental history, global history, commodity history, and histories of science and technology