ABOUT u:japan lectures
International Lectures in Japanese Studies @ University of Vienna - Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies
Idea & Scope
Idea & Scope
In April 2020, grounded by a general lockdown to prevent the first wave of the COVID-pandemic in Austria, a team of young researchers from the Japanese Studies division at the Department of East Asian Studies, was not willing to accept the cancellation of all guest lectures they have planned and were looking forward to. Hence, they started to look at different opportunities as online formats and digital ways to interact with peers and colleagues. Thankfully supported and encouraged by Prof. Wolfram Manzenreiter they utilized the technical options given at the time and combined them with enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity to see if an online guest lecture series would be feasible and also appreciated by students and peers alike. The basic idea of the Japanese studies online lectures at the University of Vienna, now known as u:japan lectures, was born.
u:japan lectures TEAM
- Wolfram Manzenreiter: patron and enabler of the u:japan lectures through his institutional and academic support as well as his positive style of leadership
- Bernhard Leitner: head of communications and the super host of the u:japan lectures, always there to help, eloquent in discussions and friendly in tone
- Florian Purkarthofer: tireless multi-talent in charge of graphics, webpage and hybrid settings at the u:japan lectures
- Christopher Kummer: online tech support and highly valued video editor of the u:japan lectures, working nightshifts to compile the finest recorded lectures, while successfully finishing his MA-thesis
- Ralf Windhab: tech experienced nice guy and new face at the u:japan lectures.
The u:japan lecture team has been nominated and shortlisted for the univie awards 2022 - International Award for "outstanding achievements and special commitment of staff members in the area of international networking and cooperation within all fields of activity of the University of Vienna."
History & Development
Pre-Season
On the 18th of May 2020, after weeks of intensive technical preparation and numerous online meetings, the first lecture was delivered: Naoka Maika explored the background and transition of the image of radiation and nuclear energy in Japan in her lecture “Racing Atomic Utopia and Dystopia in Japan”. Due to the positive feedback, the wide international participation, vivid discussions and the sheer demand for academic activity, three more lectures followed the weeks after, given by Italian anthropologist Marianna Zanetta, Marc Yamada, an expert on contemporary Japanese film and French historian Arthur Mitteau.
During the quiet but still pandemically restricted summer of 2020 the concept was further developed towards a lasting legacy in our effort to revive scholarly discourse. For those who missed lectures, wanted to re-watch them or use them in class, a recorded lectures section has been implemented. In this phase Christopher Kummer, a promising MA student, set a new standard for postproduction of academic videos and enriched the team through his skills, ideas and enthusiasm for visual perfection.
Season 1 | Autumn-Winter 2020/21
The first full season of u:japan lectures (Autumn-Winter 2020/21) started in October 2020 and featured prominent names like William W. Kelly (Yale University), Daniel White (Cambridge University), Yoshiyuki Asahi (NINJAL) and many more. We heard about the Japanese gendered job market, homosocial desires in Abe Kazushige’s fiction, revisited the ethnographic primal scene of Suye Mura and explored medieval concepts of menstruation and time. One lecture focused on android perspectives on affect, another on creativity in rural Japan, and a third one on the role of Buddhist temples as storehouses in a literal and emotional sense. We learned about seed laws and taijinkyōfu – the fear of others – but also about the Japanese language in the age of post-standardization, and concluded our first season with an excursion into all-female worlds in Japanese speculative fiction.
At that time, other universities and institutions also started Japanese studies online lectures. The example of the Viennese endeavour has inspired and transcended through the academic sphere; proof of concept accomplished. However, the u:japan lectures evolved and introduced a format called LUNCH LECTURE that enabled Japanese presenters and audience to join at a more convenient timeslot and lead to even more international participation.
Season 2 | Spring 2021
In the second season (Spring 2021) innovative researcher such as Anne Aronsson (University of Zurich), Jasmin Rückert (HHU Düsseldorf) and Edward Mack (University of Washington) presented their latest findings. We heard about gender and fascism in Manchuria, love in times of COVID, robotic agency in elderly care, dōjinshi culture, local governance in Okinawa, the packaging revolution of postwar Japan, Japanese literature in Brazil and how science was used to govern the pre- and post-war population. We also learned about recent findings regarding the connection of values and well-being, private and public actors in Kyoto’s townscape councils, Zen Buddhism in prewar Japan as an enabling mechanism for terrorist acts, the role of “traditional” crafts in revitalizing rural areas and finally how everyday practices of waste sorting and disposal actualize the social order in Japan.
While nearly all lectures took place virtually and attracted visitors from different institutions and continents, our last lecture in season two was a special occasion which, due to low COVID case numbers and strict safety precautions, happened in a hybrid format with live and international online audience.
Season 3 | Fall-Winter 2021/22
The third season (Fall-Winter 2021/22) featured once again renowned professors like Adrian Favell (Leeds University) as well as promising PhD students such as Maren Haufs-Brusberg (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf) and Christoph Schimkowsky (University of Sheffield). Also, the range of topics and perspectives broadened and stretched from labour market migration to contemporary literature and architecture to war memory museums. Due to the nearing end of the limited contract of Bernhard Leitner, Ralf Windhab inherited most of his responsibilities and became part of the team.
Season 4 | Spring 2022
The fourth season (Spring 2022) started in the worst days of the omicron wave, but was nevertheless dedicated to facilitate more hybrid lectures and progress the u:japan lectures to a post-pandemic format, by combining the best of online and offline lectures in a hybrid format. The list of presenters included Andrea de Antoni (Kyoto University), Miloš Debnár (Ryukoku University, Kyoto), Maiko Kodaka (SOAS, London) and many more, once again proving a fascinating selection of contemporary research in Japanese Studies.
u:japan lectures in Data
In four Seasons (plus one pre-season) we have organized 52 lectures, by researchers from 12 different countries reaching from the United States to New Zealand, and Europe to (of course) Japan, counting at least 2200 live participants.
Number of Lectures by Country (of Affiliation)
recorded u:japan lectures in Data
The recorded lectures section can be also viewed as success, registering more than 7.300 real views since the start of the recorded lecture section in June 2020 in total and more than 750 re-views of popular single lectures.
(hits and real views; 2020-06-11 ~ 2022-05-05)
(real views by episode and month; 2020-06-11 ~ 2022-05-05)
Legacy & Further Use
While the u:japan lectures are most valued by international participants for the vivid discussions and the intellectual discourse they enable, the u:japan lectures simultaneously serve as a portal for students at the University of Vienna to get into touch with the global scientific community in times of a pandemic. But, as we have learned in the past two and a half years, the recorded lectures are also intensively used as high-quality multimedia content by educators in Austria as well as internationally to enrich remote teaching for BA students.
In an attempt to use the experience and routine gathered through organising and hosting the u:japan lectures for the whole department, the sporadic series of u:eastasian lectures was established, featuring topics that concern the broader region of East Asia or at least two countries in the region.
Sadly, the future of the u:japan lectures is put in jeopardy due to limited contracts, unstable financial support and the insufficient staffing level at the Japanese Studies division, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Vienna. We hope for the best, but even if we are forced to discontinue the series, the recorded lectures, the digital collection of contemporary research in Japanese Studies and the exchange of ideas with friends and colleagues we met on the way will remain.