I am a historian working at University College London.
about me
I am a historian of early modern and modern Japan in its regional and global contexts. Currently I work at the Centre for Transnational History, University College London as a British Academy Newton International Fellow. My research interests are in global history, the history of knowledge, historiography, translation studies, and software studies. I received my Dr. phil. from Freie Universität Berlin in 2016. Before moving on to Berlin, I pursued an MA in linguistics, Japanese studies and political science at Bonn University.
über mich
Ich forsche zur modernen und frühmodernen japanischen Geschichte in regionalen und globalen Kontexten. Aktuell arbeite ich als British Academy Newton International Fellow am Zentrum für Transnationale Geschichte, University College London. Meine Forschungsinteressen liegen in den Bereichen Globalgeschichte, Wissensgeschichte, Geschichte der Geschichtswissenschaft, Übersetzungsstudien und Softwarestudien.
Aktuell arbeite ich an einem Forschungsprojekt mit dem Titel "Jenseits von Edo. Transnationale Narrative der 'Frühen Neuzeit' in Japan im 20. Jahrhundert".
Ich wurde 2016 an der Freien Universität Berlin mit einer Arbeit zum Thema "China übersetzen. Chinesisches Wissen und Globalisierung in Japan im 19. Jahrhundert" promoviert. Eine überarbeitete Fassung ist im Dezember 2017 bei Campus erschienen. Zuvor habe ich an der Universität Bonn Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Japanologie und Politikwissenschaft studiert.
I am currently preparing a manuscript titled "Beyond Edo. Narrating the Early Modern in 20th-century Japan". The project engages with the different ways in which Japanese historians, intellectuals, exhibition-makers and people in the tourism business imagined the time and space of an earlier epoch. more »
As the title suggests, the project approaches stories about the early modern period in Japan from the vantage point of transnational and global history. It focuses on stories which have not received a lot of scholarly attention: stories that go beyond "Edo" - the old name of the capital, which is often used as a shortcut for cultural achievements from kabuki to sushi which are today closely associated with a national heritage. The project is comprised of several case studies that together showcase the diverse forms of the Japanese engagement with the early modern past.
I am also working on an introduction to software studies, an burgeoning interdisciplinary field that explores software in its cultural, social, economic and political contexts. The book will be published with transcript.
Temporal modernity and the origins of historical periodization in Japan.INTH Conference Place and Displacement. Aug 2018, Södertörn University, Stockholm.
Navigating cultural space in Nioh. II Conference Historical Game Studies. Apr 2018, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Language reforms. Towards a global intellectual history. Max Weber workshop Moving (Between) Cultures: Theories and Practices of Transfer. Apr 2018, European University Institute, Florence.
Beyond Edo. Transnational Narratives of the Early Modern in 20th-Century Japan. One Asia Lecture Series. March 2018, University College Cork.
Transcultural philology in 19th century Japan. The case of Shigeno Yasutsugu (1827–1910). In: Philological Encounters 3,1, p. 3–33.
China Übersetzen. Globalisierung und Chinesisches Wissen in Japan im 19. Jahrhundert. [Translating China. Globalization and Chinese knowledge in 19th century Japan]. Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2017.
Translating China
Chinese knowledge and globalization in nineteenth-century Japan
In this book, I explore how the field of Chinese knowledge in Japan, i.e. scholarship based on the study of texts written in classical Chinese, evolved in the context of 19th-century globalization. Published by Campus in December 2017 (in German).
I have been teaching at UCL, Freie Universität Berlin and as a short-term guest lecturer at Universiteit Leiden and the University of Cambridge, both in the East Asian studies and history departments at the BA and MA level. I own a diploma in college teaching from the inter-university Berliner Zentrum für Hochschullehre.
Transnational studies core course pt. 2, UCL MA Transnational studies, 2018
Time and temporality in global history, FU Berlin MA Global history, 2017
Approaches to global history, FU Berlin MA Global history, 2017
Cultural histories of computer programming, FU Berlin BA History, 2017 (in German)
Japan in the early modern world, FU Berlin MA Global history, 2017
Heritage in a global perspective, FU Berlin MA Global history, 2016
The early modern in global history, FU Berlin MA Global history, 2015
Methods and tools in cultural studies, FU Berlin MA Japanese studies, 2014 (in German)
Diplomatic history of Japan: from the 16th to 21st century, FU Berlin MA Japanese studies, 2012 (in German)
Disasters and emotions in East Asia, FU Berlin BA East Asian studies, 2011 (in German)
Survey course political and economic history of Japan, FU Berlin BA East Asian studies, 2010-12 (in German)
Stylistic change in Meiji period Japan, FU Berlin MA Japanese studies, 2009 (in German)
outreach
I have been participating in outreach events such as the Berlin Long Night of the Sciences and in collaborative projects with high schools in Berlin. I have also published posts in academic blogs on the history of sexuality and the history of emotions.
Want to know more? Visit my profile at UCL and Academia.edu.
