Faculty

Professor of Philosophy
Russell House 216
860-685-3654

Co-Chair, Asian Languages and Literatures
Russell House 216

Tutor, College of Social Studies
860-685-3654

Professor, East Asian Studies
860-685-3654

Chair, East Asian Studies Program

Director, Freeman Center for East Asian Studies

sangle@wesleyan.edu

BA Yale University
PHD University of Michigan

PHIL205 - 01
Classical Chinese Philosophy

PHIL272 - 01
Human Rights Across Cultures

Personal Homepage:
http://sangle.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Spring 2013: None (sabbatical)

Research Interests:

My research interests revolve around various aspects of Chinese moral and political philosophy, including issues that arise when one thinks about the process of comparing Chinese ideas and traditions with the ideas and traditions of other cultures. I focus primarily on post-classical Chinese thought, up to and including the contemporary period. I have written on the development of Chinese human rights discourse, its various interactions with non-Chinese discourses, and on ways in which we in the West should relate to these Chinese ideas. My current research looks at relations between Confucian ideas and contemporary philosophical concerns in a different area: drawing on work I have done on the idea of "sagehood," I am exploring whether the neo-Confucian philosophical and religious tradition (roughly 1000 C.E. - present) has resources that can contribute constructively to a contemporary, globally-informed philosophy of moral psychology and moral education.

Scholarly Keywords:

Chinese Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy, Human Rights, and Moral Psychology

Academic Associations:

American Philosophical Association Association of Asian Studies International Society for Chinese Philosophy International Society for Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Philosophy

BA Earlham College
MA Harvard University
MAA Wesleyan University
PHD Harvard University

CHUM358 - 01
Style and Stylistic Change

Office Hours:

Spring 2013: On Sabbatical, Fall 2013: On Leave

Research Interests:

Jonathan Best received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1976; unusual for its time it was a joint degree from the Department of Fine Arts and the Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations. Subsequently he has taught East Asian art history at the University of Virginia and Wesleyan University, but his research and publications-all focused on early Korea-have addressed religious history, diplomatic and political history, as well as art history. His current research centers on the critical historiographic analysis of the Samguk sagi, the oldest surviving history of Korea. Initiating what promises to be a long-term, multi-volume project is his monograph, A History of the Early Korean Kingdom of Paekche-together with an annotated translation of the Paekche Annals of the Samguk sagi (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center Press, 2006).

Scholarly Keywords:

East Asian art history, early Korean and Japanese Buddhist art and cultural history

BA University of Pennsylvania
MA University of California LA
PHD University of California LA

EAST253 - 01
East Asian Exhibitions

Associate Professor of Government
Public Affairs Center 221
860-685-4865

Associate Professor, East Asian Studies
860-685-4865

Associate Professor, Environmental Studies
860-685-4865

mahaddad@wesleyan.edu

BA Amherst College
MA University of Washington
PHD University of Washington

GOVT296 - 01
Politics in Japan

GOVT304 - 01
Environmental Politics

GOVT297 - 01
Politics in China

Personal Homepage:
http://mahaddad.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:
Fall 2012: Wed 11-12 in COE 202, Thurs 11-12 in PAC 221, and by appointment

Professor of Economics
Public Affairs Center 303
860-685-2155

Professor, East Asian Studies
Public Affairs Center 303
860-685-2155

mimai@wesleyan.edu

BA U. of Wisconsin Eau Claire
PHD University Calif Davis

Personal Homepage:
http://mimai.web.wesleyan.edu

Office Hours:

M 12:00 - 1:00, 4:00-5:00 & by appointment

Research Interests:

I am currently interested in financial history of Japan, related (or connected) lending, political economy of banking regulation and supervision, and government ownership of financial institutions.

Scholarly Keywords:

Money and Banking, Economy of Japan, and Political Economy

Academic Associations:

American Economic Association, Eastern Economic Association, American Finance Association, Japan Economic Seminar, International Society of New Institutional Economics.

Grants:

FDIC Center for Financial Research Grant, 2008, "Real Effects of Finance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan". Mellon Summer Stipends, 2008, "Real Effects of Finance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan" Mellon Faculty Career Development Mini Grant 2005, "Related Lending and Financial Development"

Publications:
http://mimai.web.wesleyan.edu/research.htm

Professor of History
Public Affairs Center 135
860-685-2375

Professor, East Asian Studies
860-685-2375

Professor, Science in Society
860-685-2375

wjohnston@wesleyan.edu

BA Elmira College
MA Harvard University
PHD Harvard University

Office Hours:

ON LEAVE/SABBATICAL ALL YEAR 2013-2014

Research Interests:

My current research topics are: Syphilis in Early Modern Japan Warfare and State Formation in Sixteenth Century Japan The Historiography of Amino Yoshihiko

Scholarly Keywords:

Modern Japanese History

Assistant Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures
Fisk Hall 313
860-685-3453

Assistant Professor, East Asian Studies
Fisk Hall 313
860-685-3453

mnakamura@wesleyan.edu

BA University of California LA
MA Columbia University
PHD Stanford University

ALIT216 - 01
Screening Japanese Modernity

JAPN219 - 01
Fourth-Year Japanese

ALIT202 - 01
Japanese Horror

JAPN220 - 01
Fourth-Year Japanese

Scholarly Keywords:
Modern Japanese Literature; Fantastic Fiction, Gender Theory, Popular Culture.

Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies
Public Affairs Center 303
860-685-2383

Professor of History
Public Affairs Center 303
860-685-2383

Professor, East Asian Studies
860-685-2383

vschwarcz@wesleyan.edu

BA Vassar College
MA Yale University
MAA Wesleyan University
PHD Stanford University

HIST223 - 01
Traditional China

HIST308 - 01
The Jewish Experience in China

Personal Homepage:
http://between2walls.com

Office Hours:

Fall 2013:

Research Interests:

the role of truth in the wake of historial trauma history of landscaped spaces

Scholarly Keywords:

Chinese Intellectual History, Comparative Memory Studies Poetry and History Truth and Historical Narative

Academic Associations:

association for asian studies

Grants:

Guggenheim Fellowship 1989-1990 Founders Fellowship, AAUW 1988-89 American Council of Learned Societies, 1996 National Academy of Sciences: 1979-80

Publications:
http://between2walls.com/

two new books of poems published in 2009

CER

ARST460 - 01
Intro To Sumi-e Painting

ARST461 - 01
Alternative Printmaking:

ARST460 - 01
Intro To Sumi-e Painting

ARTS618 - 01
Japanese Woodblock Printmaking

Office Hours:

Spring 2011 By appointment kshinohara@wesleyan.edu ext. 2816 104 Art Studio South

Research Interests:

Keiji Shinohara was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. After 10 years as an apprentice to the renowned Keiichiro Uesugi in Kyoto, he became a Master Printmaker and moved to the United States. Shinohara's natural abstractions are printed on rice paper with water-based inks from woodblocks in the Ukiyo-e style - the traditional Japanese printmaking method dating to 600 CE. Keiji Shinohara has been a visiting artist at over 100 venues. He has received grants from the Japan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and his work is in many public collections, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, and the Library of Congress.

Scholarly Keywords:

While living in Kyoto, I trained for ten years in the traditional Japanese woodblock printing style known as Ukiyo-e. The technical foundation for my artwork is rooted in that training, accompanied by techniques of contemporary western printmaking. Yet the imagery itself is very different from historical Ukiyo-e.
The process of printmaking is appealing to me because of its inherent surprises. There is always a negotiation going on with the material. Each piece of wood brings its own character to which I must adjust each time.
For me, the story behind the work is very important; there is a sense of narrative that is very private. The feelings and emotions that I convey through these abstract landscapes matter most to me. Almost always my images are of nature, but it is the essence of the landscape that I want to express, not realistic accuracy.
Because I am left-handed, part of my Ukiyo-e training included attending Sumi-e (ink brush painting) school to become more adept at using my right hand. Woodblock printmaking is a very precise step-by-step process of planning and design, so I really like Sumi-e for the freedom it gives me to express myself spontaneously.
This specific series was inspired by my observations of the attempts to preserve ancient wall paintings. Sometimes the areas that chip away are restored in an attempt to maintain the original vitality of the painting. Yet there is a certain beauty to wall paintings that honestly reflect the passage of time, which is what I wanted to capture in these pieces.

Adjunct Associate Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures
Fisk Hall 303
860-685-3458

Adjunct Associate Professor, East Asian Studies
860-685-3458

etakahashi@wesleyan.edu

BA University of Iowa
MA University of Iowa
PHD University of Pittsburgh

JAPN103 - 01
Elementary Japanese I

JAPN103 - 02
Elementary Japanese I

JAPN205 - 01
Intermediate Japanese I

JAPN217 - 01
Third-Year Japanese I

JAPN104 - 01
Elementary Japanese II

JAPN206 - 01
Intermediate Japanese II

JAPN218 - 01
Third-Year Japanese II

Office Hours:
MT 11-12, WF 2-3 (FALL 2011)

Assistant Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures
Fisk Hall 304
860-685-3457

Assistant Professor, East Asian Studies

awang01@wesleyan.edu

BA Beijing University
MA Washington University
PHD Yale University

ALIT225 - 01
Introduction to Chinese Poetry

CHIN217 - 01
Third-Year Chinese

CHIN218 - 01
Third-Year Chinese

EAST201 - 01
Pro-Seminar

BA Yale University
PHD Yale University

ALIT210 - 01
Japanese Culture Through Food

Associate Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures
Fisk Hall 307
860-685-3389

Affiliated Faculty
Fisk Hall 307
860-685-3389

swu03@wesleyan.edu

BA Fudan University
MA Fudan University
PHD University of California LA

Associate Professor of Music
Music Studios 216
860-685-2582

Associate Professor, East Asian Studies
Music Studios 216
860-685-2582

szheng@wesleyan.edu

BA Central Conservatory of Music
MA New York University
PHD Wesleyan University

MUSC261 - 01
Music and Modernity

MUSC519 - 01
Current Issues/Ethnomusicology

MA Wesleyan University

CHIN101 - 01
Chinese Character Writing

CHIN103 - 01
Elementary Chinese

CHIN103 - 02
Elementary Chinese

CHIN205 - 01
Intermediate Chinese

CHIN221 - 01
Fourth-Year Chinese

CHIN419 - 01
Student Forum

CHIN104 - 01
Elementary Chinese II

CHIN104 - 02
Elementary Chinese II

CHIN206 - 01
Intermediate Chinese

CHIN222 - 01
Fourth-Year Chinese

Office Hours:
10:00 - 12:00 am, Wednesday