Student projects 2022 – Japanese Popular Culture & Tourism
This semester I’m getting my students to post their final project videos on YouTube (again); that way, they have to think about a prospective audience when creating their content (of course, they’ve been instructed – and repeatedly reminded – not to post any personal information & be careful about copyrighted material). I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with. For most of them, the deadline is next week (mid-January), so you won’t find too many videos just yet, but here are the channel links: Japanese Popular Cultures 2022 – Student projects Tourism and Local Cultures 2022 (Spring semester)…
Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists
The inaugural issue of the Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists is out now, and it’s open access. I have really been looking forward to reading this! I’ll probably write more on it once I have a chance to read it all, but for now, here’s the link: Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists – 1st issue. And in case you want to submit an article (I hope to do so in the near future!), here is the PDF with the Author Instructions (Brill).
‘Philosophy beyond Boundaries’, The 25th World Congress of Philosophy
Sapienza University will host the 25th World Congress of Philosophy in 2024 (Aug. 1-8) – ‘Philosophy beyond Boundaries.’ CfP: to be announced Here are the thematic sessions (as per their Facebook page, because no other formal announcement has been posted as of now): ⦁ Aesthetics and philosophies of art⦁ African philosophy⦁ Africana philosophy⦁ Bioethics and medical ethics⦁ Buddhist philosophy⦁ Chinese philosophy⦁ Christian philosophy⦁ Comparative, intercultural, and cross-cultural philosophy⦁ Confucian philosophy⦁ Contemporary philosophy⦁ Daoist philosophy⦁ East Asian and South-East Asian philosophies⦁ Economic philosophy and business ethics⦁ Environmental philosophy and sustainability⦁ Ethics⦁ Ethics of artificial intelligence⦁ Experimental philosophy⦁ Feminist philosophy⦁ Game theory⦁…
JAPANESE STUDIES NEWS [August 2019]
August 29~September 1st, at Nanzan University (Nagoya): 5th Annual Conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy: ‘Philosophy and Beauty [美の哲学・哲学の美]‘
JAPANESE STUDIES NEWS [July 2019]
A new restoration of Yasujiro Ozu’s silent comedy 突貫小僧 Tokkan Kozō (1929, “A Straightforward Boy”) will be streaming on Le Cinéma Club for a few days, until July 25th. On July 27th, Tōyō University’s Inoue Enryō Research Centre (Hakusan Campus) will hold a mini-conference on the early reception of Western philosophy in Japan, 明治期の西洋哲学の受容と『哲学雑誌』(13:00~15:00). Link here.
Black dots
You’re but black dots, unthreatening and bland. Yet I step closer, and then I start to shiver. I’m making out the contours of a black gas mask, and then another. And another. Under the suffocating, eerie tick-tock of the clocks, you’re trying to catch your breath. You’re now in thousands, time ticking you right by. You’re running out of air, you’re running out of time. Yet to our naked, urban eye, you’re nothing but a black dot in a row. We check on you from time to time, during our annual remembrance season; but then you blend again into the…
Let’s not forget our history
Let’s not forget our history, you say. Let’s not forget our heroes and our foes, Let’s not destroy this pure and subtle family we are. But you invent yourself a solemn, mighty past – You fight off savages while wearing fancy dress, Sip tea from golden bowls in restful peace, Enjoy high art and try your hand at poetry. And all this while you whip me into wretched silence, You build high walls around and keep the fresh air out, You smuggle me into oblivion and disgrace, And then you howl in horror at my sight, With foam around your…
The European Journal of Japanese Philosophy (3) 2018
The 2018 European Journal of Japanese Philosophy (3) is now available on Amazon, and it includes the second part of my Yamaga Sokō translation into Romanian (The Way of the Samurai). You can judge me if you want, but I can’t wait to finally hold the book in my hands! I’ve been working on this translation (parts I and II) since last summer, and it feels like a milestone of sorts. It cost me all my free time, my sanity and probably some friends :P, but I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve had the chance to work with some wonderful people…
The Case for Confucian Philosophy (conference presentation)
The Case for Confucian Philosophy – an analysis of Yamaga Sokō’s concept of loyalty and its modern interpretations 4th ENOJP Conference: ‘Übergänge – Transitions – 移り渉り: Crossing the Boundaries in Japanese Philosophy’ September 5 – 8, 2018, Universität Hildesheim, Germany [Presentation abstract] Following WW2, inquiries into Japanese Confucian philosophy have been grappling with its unfortunate entanglement with the prewar authoritarian regime, leading to its massive disavowal and more recent accounts about its eradication after the war, both in local and Western scholarship. Most such theories view Confucian moral philosophy as one of the primary enablers of Japanese prewar authoritarianism…
[Upcoming] Yamaga Sokō’s moral philosophy and its modern-day implications (conference presentation)
Yamaga Sokō’s moral philosophy and its modern-day implications – Some considerations on Shidō ‘Japan – Premodern, Modern and Contemporary’ (Japanese Studies conference) September 3~5, 2018 ‘Dimitrie Cantemir’ Christian University, Romania [Presentation abstract] Yamaga Sokō 山鹿素行 (1622-1685) is a central yet controversial figure in Japanese intellectual history. Born to a bushi family at a time when Shushigaku 朱子学 scholars dominated the Tokugawa intellectual scene, he received his Confucian education under Hayashi Razan 林羅山 (the founder of the Shushigaku school), while simultaneously pursuing an education in military arts. Although not a major figure during his lifetime, Sokō did establish himself as…
My newest article, "Moderating hate on the Internet in Japan," is now available as a book chapter in National Identity and Millennials in Northeast Asia: Power and Contestations in the Digital Age (Routledge Contemporary Asian Societies Series): https://www.routledge.com/National-Identity-and-Millennials-in-Northeast-Asia-Power-and-Contestations/Frangville-Kellner-Ponjaert/p/book/9781032486963