This seminar utilizes socio-cultural anthropology (whether legal, political, feminist, urban, the anthropology of social policy, the anthropology of work, etc.), as a tool to explore the dynamics of social life among peoples in the contemporary Asia-Pacific region. Each MA student will focus on a particular country, asking a narrowly defined question, utilizing gender, class, race and ethnicity as appropriate as lenses to view the social phenomenon under question. If cultures are the tool kits of individuals, what new elements are entering these kits and what old ones cast aside as our world globalizes and flows of peoples across borders increase? What factors enable or constrain people as they seek to achieve their goals? What expectations underlie the bases of everyday life, and how do people negotiate or cope with, or catalyze, change? These are some of the larger questions with which students should expect to engage in their areas of particular inquiry for the MA thesis. In particular, students who wish to study qualitative aspects of migration, work issues, gender issues, or family/population/aging issues, are most welcome as these encompass my own areas of research. In addition, since the area of most of my research has been Japan, students wishing to study contemporary Japan are certainly welcome, although the seminar is not restricted to those interested in Japan.

Students will engage in qualitative research that includes participant-observation and/or in-depth interviewing in order to explore a narrowly defined question of their choice concerning some aspect of everyday life in a country of the region. For instance, past graduates have studied Korean female migrant workers in Tokyo and their daily lives and motivations, the gendered furitaa-phenomenon among young Japanese people today, Japanese junior college women's attitudes toward their studies and their aspirations, and the situations of migrant women workers in a Japanese corporation in Shenzhen, China). In order to carry out qualitative research, students must have sufficient fluency in the language of their place of fieldwork. When at all possible, students are encouraged to use source materials written in both English and the language of the people being researched.

To enter this seminar, students should have some previous background in cultural or social anthropology, or sociology, at the undergraduate level. This could consist of one or two courses, but it is extremely helpful if the student has this knowledge. If the student has no previous social science background s/he should prepare in advance by reading recently published standard undergraduate textbooks in cultural anthropology and sociology. The student also needs to have sufficient ability in English to read graduate-level academic texts extensively and to make presentations and discuss reading materials or research findings in English. One might say that a love of reading is a prerequisite of this seminar! Although not a requirement, it is recommended that the student attain a minimum of 575 on the TOEFL exam before entering this seminar. The MA thesis itself, however, can be written either in English or in Japanese depending on the level of proficiency of the student.

The focus of the doctoral seminar will be some compelling social issues facing people in Japan today. Students are expected to use current anthropological theory and methodology to analyze their chosen topics. Students must also develop an understanding of the historical background to their topic, and they must review the previous research of relevant academicians in the Japanese and English literatures on their topics. Furthermore, regional variation should be addressed. Topics within the frameworks of gender relations, migration, the anthropology of work, family formations and dynamics, class and status, minority issues, aging and retirement, the nature of community, etc. would be welcome.

This three-year seminar consists of tutorial guidance on fieldwork and writing the dissertation only, and does not include coursework in anthropological theory, methods, or the history of the discipline. These must be mastered before entrance to the seminar by demonstration that the student has satisfactorily completed coursework in current theory and the history of the discipline of cultural anthropology or qualitative sociology at the MA level. The candidate must also demonstrate suitability for the program by holding an excellent academic record at the MA level, and by submitting a well-reasoned, well-informed research and writing plan for his or her individual PhD research project. In addition, the candidate must:

1. Have sufficient fluency in Japanese language to conduct qualitative fieldwork read research materials and incorporate them and present findings to scholarly audiences in Japan (Level One of the Nihongo Noryoku Shiken would suffice).
2. Have sufficient fluency in English to read and to refer appropriately and extensively to the academic literature existing in English on the topic, and to write and present findings in English at international academic conferences (TOEFL score of 600 and above would suffice).

Students in this seminar should actively form research networks, domestically and internationally. I also encourage them to take advantage of opportunities to take coursework abroad at institutions with which GSAPS holds exchange agreements. This doctoral degree is for students who are strongly self-motivated to pursue a research question utilizing the disciplinary tool of socio-cultural anthropology. It is intended to create professionals who will be able to disseminate their knowledge effectively to academic and other professional audiences.

Students should adopt an explicitly comparative approach to their research topics so as to situate their findings on Japan within the broader global framework of contemporary societies. Students should also view their topics from a variety of levels, from the individual to the various social institutions that might be involved, such as families, bureaucracies (schools, government agencies, corporations, hospitals, religious institutions, military, NPOs), etc. Some topics, while focusing on Japan, may lend themselves well also to transnational research. Ph.D. seminars, which consist of student presentations of readings and research in progress, will be held in the spring term as follows: