Japanese History Lab – Research Assistant

We engage in collaborative learning, shared mentorship, research training and advanced research, professional development through workshops and internship opportunities, consulting with global companies, and a variety of forms of public-facing education, publication, and community engagement around various topics in Japanese history.

The student will join our research group, jointly based in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and the Department of History. Please apply by 11-11-2021 with a resume and an application letter.

Topics of current interest in the lab include:

Changes in representation of key Japanese historical figures
Diachronic analysis of the samurai as a cultural archetype
Problematizing national and cultural heroes in contemporary Japan
The social history and reception of the policies of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598)
Material culture and daily life in late medieval and early modern Japan
The history, aesthetics, and politics of Japanese tea culture (chanoyu)
The archaeology and environmental history of premodern Japanese cities
Early modern (Edo or Tokugawa period) political ritual and pageantry
Modern Japanese national identity

Our lab, led by Professor Morgan Pitelka, includes local high school students; current and former undergraduates interested in researching Japanese history; M.A. students in the DAMES graduate program; Ph.D. students in the Asian History field from the History department; and postdocs and other affiliated scholars from the Triangle and beyond.

Student will work alongside lab researchers researching and writing about Japanese history.