Launch of the new MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies

On January 23, 2020, Sainsbury Institute together with UEA’s Centre of Japanese Studies and the Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities launched a new Master’s Programme in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies. Organised as an information session to introduce the new course to the UEA’s students, this event brought together lecturers from different schools at UEA specialising in Japan, as well as academic staff of the Sainsbury Institute, who will be involved in teaching and supervising the students. Together they shared their vision about this new exciting course, its role in bringing the relationship between the Sainsbury Institute and UEA to the new level, and showcased the expertise about Japan that the Sainsbury Institute and UEA have to offer to the new generation of Japan specialists.

The new MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies, to welcome a first cohort of students in September 2020, embodies UEA’s vision for borderless interdisciplinary inquiry and positions Japanese Studies at the nexus of the major humanities disciplines including literature, history, politics, and art. How do contemporary experiences of migration and alienation reverberate in Japan’s literature? What impact will the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have on international relations? How do popular Japanese art forms such as manga find their way into museums? Which historical issues dominate Japan’s regional politics and relations with its neighbours? When did Japan become modern and how?

This course will give students access to resources across several institutions located in Norwich, one of the UK’s most rapidly growing research hubs of Japanese Studies. The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures will introduce them to its world-class research and outreach programme on Japanese visual cultures; experts on Japan from across the UEA faculty will share their experience and disciplinary insights; and the unique collection of Japanese art and archaeology at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts will offer an opportunity for direct contact with Japan’s art and material culture. Drawing on the synergies between these institutions and their resources, this course offers an outstanding combination of expert knowledge, active research networks, and important primary sources, preparing a new generation of Japan specialists for a successful and exciting global career.

The call for applications is now open. For more information on the course, its full-time and part-time options, and the application procedure, please see the UEA MA course profile page, as well as more information on the SISJAC’s webpage. We hope that this course will help create a new generation of versatile experts on Japan, who are well equipped to cross geographical, disciplinary, and institutional borders, ready to jump-start their careers in this exciting field.

Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer
Lecturer in Japanese Arts, Cultures and Heritage