Event Calendar
NEWS
ICC Mission
With a motto of "connecting Sophia to the world," the Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC) promotes interdisciplinary studies in social sciences and humanities from a comparative perspective, building the global networks of Sophia's international researchers, and supporting collaboration with world-class researchers outside Japan. The specializations of ICC members include business, economics, history, literature, art history and area studies, focusing on Asia. All research activities and public events are conducted in English. The central activity of the ICC is funding and organizing research projects initiated by ICC members.
Director: Tina Burrett
Ph.D., Professor
Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Sophia University
Vice Director: Takehiro Watanabe (渡邉 剛弘)
Ph.D., Associate Professor
Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Sophia University
Sophia Institute of Comparative Culture Collaborative Research Unit Water and Society in Japan presents
Solid Spaces and Flexible Times amid Environmental Catastrophe:
Popular Media and Climate Change
Amanda Kennell, Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Notre Dam
July 23, 2025, 18:00-19:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
Sophia Institute of International Relations (SIIR) and the Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC) jointly presents
From 'Great Expectations' to 'Cold War Redux'? :
Russia and the West - En Route to the Ukraine War
Rudra Sil, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania
July 9, 2025, 17:30-19:00
SIIR Conference Room, 1F, Building #13, Sophia University
In person only
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Foreign Policy Between Diplomacy and Reconciliation:
The German-Greek Paradigm 2014–2024
Dr. Charalampos (Babis) Karpouchtsis, Director of the Civic Education division at the Democratic Resilience Center (DRC) of HSU
July 14, 2025, 17:30-19:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
The Invention of the Kamikaze:
Dissent and Resistance in the Japanese Military
Nick Kapur, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University’s Camden Campus
July 9, 2025, 17:30-19:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
Sophia University ICC Collaborative Research Unit "Refugees and Migrants in Tokyo" unit and Chiba University Research on Migration and Refugee Studies presents a special seminar on
Refugee resettlement in England and Japan:
Outcomes and experiences
Date: July 2, 2025
Time: 5:30 pm -7:30 pm (JST)
Format: Hybrid
In-person: Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
Online: ZOOM: Please register from here: https://forms.office.com/r/ap2qXTLzA8
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Precarious Worlds in China’s Creative Industries:
‘Underground’ drag, clubbing and indie in Shanghai
Mick Vierbergen, PhD candidate at the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing of the Hong Kong Baptist University
July 1, 2025, 18:00-19:30
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
The Department of English Studies and the Institute of Comparative Culture Sophia University present
July 10, 2025, 18:00-20:30
Sophia University Yotsuya Campus, Bldg. 2, Room 401
Free admission.
Registration is NOT required.
日本語はこちらから
For more details click here.
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents a screening of a documentary film
In Search of Native Language Spaces
(はざま-母語のための場所を探して)
July 16, 2025, 18:00-20:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
Please register from HERE: https://forms.office.com/r/zYXAyeFkdc
上智大学比較文化研究所/フォーダム大学/ 安倍フェローシップ・米国社会科学研究評議会（SSRC）プロジェクト “Consent” in Sexual Violence: Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Japan and the US 主催 共同研究発表シンポジウム
国内大規模調査の分析結果
July 6, 2025, 13:00-16:30
オンライン（要事前登録）
事前登録はこちらから: https://fhttps://forms.office.comorms.office.com/r/
本イベントは 2 日間にわたって開催されます。7 月 5 日（初日）は対面で行われ、発表は英語で実施されます（事前登録不要）。7 月 6 日（2 日目）はオンラインで行われ、発表は日本語で実施されます（事前登録が必要です）。
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture, Fordham University, Abe/SSRC project “Consent in Sexual Violence: Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Japan and the US presents a symposium:
Analyses from the Nationwide Survey on Sexual Violence
July 5, 2025, 13:00-16:30
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person / No registration required
This is a two-day event. The first day, July 5th, will be in-person, with presentations conduct-ed in English (no registration required). The second day, July 6th, will be held online (regis-tration required), with presentations conducted in Japanese.
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
The Politics of Generational Divides in Ageing Societies:
A Comparison of Japan and Germany
Steffen Heinrich, Political Scientist
June 26, 2025, 17:30-19:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person
No registration required
Sophia Institute of International Relations and the Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University present:
Stepping Stones in Japan-Bulgaria Relations
Evgeniy Kandilarov, Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at the Japanese Studies Department of Sofia University (Bulgaria)
May 23, 2025 / 17:30~19:00
SIIR Conference Room (1F, Building 13, Sophia University)
Hy-flex Format (No Pre-Registration Required)
Access to the venue：https://dept.sophia.ac.jp/is/ir/access/
Zoom information for online participants:
Meeting ID: 918 7904 0046
Pass Code: 656726
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
The Making of Contemporary Japan in the Hispanic Imaginaries
Javier Pérez-Jara, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and East Asian Studies at the University of Seville and Faculty Fellow at Yale’s Center for Cultural Sociology
June 18, 2025, 18:30-20:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Busarin Lertchavalitsakul, Lecturer in the Development Studies Program, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences at Naresuan University, Thailand
June 6, 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Room L-821, 8F, Sophia Library
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Low-wage Labour Migration Regimes in Asia:
Lessons from across the governance spectrum
Arwen Joyce, Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Law at the University of Leicester, UK
June 17, 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Caring for the Dead Otherwise
Anne Allison, Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University
May 23 2025 / 18:00-19:30
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
‘Multi-’ Singapore, Racial-Singaporeans, and Trouble at the Hyphen
Joshua Babcock, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University and a Faculty Affiliate in the Programs in Linguistics, STS, and the Southeast Asian Studies Initiative
June 6 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Format: Hybrid Online only
Venue: Room 301, 3F, Building 10,
Sophia University
ZOOM: https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/99851934434
Meeting ID: 998 5193 4434
Passcode: singapore
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
The Rise of Japanese Cuisine in Iceland:
From Asian to New Nordic Influences?
Kristín Ingvarsdóttir, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Japanese Studies, University of Iceland
June 5 2025 / 17:30-19:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In Person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents a Roundtable on
The Legacy of the Japanese Peace Preservation Law at its Centennial
Organizers:
Mahon MURPHY, Kyoto University
Max WARD, Middlebury College
Participants:
Ariel ACOSTA, Waseda University
MORI Yasuo, Doshisha University
John PERSON, State University of New York, Albany
Sven SAALER, Sophia University
May 29 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In Person
No registration required
上智大学ヨーロッパ研究所主催（共催：上智大学比較文化研究所）講演会
for a New Approach to the Italian Filoni
Prof. Stefano Baschiera, Professor in Film and Screen Industries at Queen’s University Belfast
June 2 2025 / 18:00-19:30
Venue: L-821(上智大学中央図書館/Central Library, Sophia University)
Registration：不要
Admission free.
No registration required.
A Screening and a discussion session hosted by Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
A film by Megha Wadhwa based on a research project led by five women exploring skilled migration in Asia.
May 17 2025 / 16:00-17:30
Room 309, Building 2, Sophia University
In Person only
Please register from here: https://forms.office.com/r/zB6azZLs4G
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses
A Writer’s Journey
M. G. Sheftall, Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural History and Communication at Shizuoka University
May 12 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Format: Hybrid
Venue: Room 301 (Subject to change)
Zoom: https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/98529658944
Meeting-ID: 985 2965 8944
Passcode: bucky
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Ecological Imaginaries in Civil Data in Post-Nuclear Japan
Ina Kim, Environmental and Medical Anthropologist
May 9 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In Person only
No registration necessary
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Indian Immigrants in Tokyo, 1976-2010
Bakirathi Mani, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
May 14 2025 / 18:30-20:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In Person only
No registration necessary
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Global Migration, Transnationalism, and the Quest for Home
Hasan Mahmud, Assistant Professor in Residence at Northwestern University in Qatar
April 30, 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
No registration necessary
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Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Understanding and Explaining Bad Leadership:
The Strange Case of Prime Minister Liz Truss
Dr Mark Bennister, Academic Researcher
April 29, 2025 / 17:30-19:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration necessary
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
From Taiwan Subjects to Overseas Taiwanese to Taiwan Provincials:
Being Taiwanese in Early Post-war Japan
Evan Dawley, Associate Professor of History at Goucher College
April 28, 2025, 17:30-19:00 (JST)
Hybrid (In person and on Zoom)
Venue: Room 301, 3F, building 10, Sophia University
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/97766723579
Meeting ID: 977 6672 3579 Passcode: 927760
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
The Role of Students, Academics, and Universities in the Struggle Against Authoritarianism
Licia Proserpio, Research Fellow at the Department of History and Culture – University of Bologna (Italy) and Adjunct Professor at the School of Liberal Studies at UPES (India)
April 23, 2025, 19:00~20:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture and the European Institute present a talk and a film Screening with Dr. Elisabeth Brun
NYKSUND RELOADED and BIG TECH BLUES
Reactivating a 1980´s Ecotopia through Archive & Media Art”
Followed by a film screening of Big Tech Blues (2025)
Elizabeth Brun, Filmmaker, Visual Artist, and Researcher working at the intersection of media theory, artistic research, and public space
April 21, 2025, 18:00~20:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Anna Greenspan, Associate Professor of Global Contemporary Media, NYU Shanghai
April 24, 2025, 19:00~20:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Religious Change in Post-Mao China
Yanfei Sun, Associate Professor of Sociology at Zhejiang University
April 17, 2025, 18:30~20:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2025
Art of Questioning in Analytic Qualitative Sociology
Dingxin Zhao, Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Human-ities at Zhejiang University and Max Palevsky Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Chicago
April 16, 2025, 18:00~19:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
ICC Sophia University and the Free University of Berlin Online Lecture Series
“Migration, Memory, and the Art of Storytelling on Film” recordings are now available on ‘YouTube’
For details, please see the project page.
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2024
Data Trafficking on the High Seas:
Ports as Mediated Sites of Digital Governance
Aynne Kokas, C.K. Yen Professor at the Miller Center, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia
February 4, 2025, 17:30~19:00
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration necessary
A Seminar organized by JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development with the support of Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
Forced Migration and Humanitarian Action:
Perspectives from Humanitarian Actors Working with People in Displacement
January 31, 2025 17:30-19:00 (Japan Standard Time)
Hybrid Event:
-
In-person: International Conference Hall, 2F, JICA Ichigaya Building
-
Online: via Zoom
REGISTER HERE AND JOIN US! https://krs.bz/jica-ri/m?f=301
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents
Migrant Foodways in Japan Workshop
January 24, 2025, 9:00~18:00
Room 301, building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required
International Hybrid Symposium hosted by the Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University, and supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 22K00863
Unexplored Crossways of Antiquarianism in Japan’s Long Nineteenth Century
Date: 18 January 2025 (Saturday), 14:00–18:00
Place: Room 509, Building 2, Sophia University
Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/98704597170?pwd=sR5edf4mOJSZvASpwRhCjB9HPCWV5q.1
(Meeting ID: 987 0459 7170 / Passcode: UCA2025)
Website: https://jbdb.jp/unexplored-crossways-of-antiquarianism-in-japans-long-nineteenth-century/
Language: English (questions and comments in Japanese are welcome)
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2024
Gambling, Dignity, and Day Laborers in Twenty-First Century Tokyo
Klaus K. Y. Hammering, Independent Scholar who writes on issues of cultural politics, ideology, fascism, labor, and transgression in Japan
January 15, 2025, 18:00 ~ 19:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration necessary
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture based Abe/SSRC project “Consent” in Sexual Violence: Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Japan and the US presents
Film screening of
“Team Sonoko” (w/English subtitles)
Sachi Nakajima, Representative of NPO Resilience
Yuni Tomodsuka, Director
Akiko Takeyema, Professor at University of Kansas
January 10, 2025, 17:00 ~ 19:30
Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
No registration necessary
Sophia University Department of English Studies and the Institute of Comparative Culture Jointly presents:
“picking off new shoots will not stop the spring”
Poetry and Political Reality -- Reading Myanmar Witness Poems 1988-2021
(In English and Japanese)
Yasuhiro Yotsumoto, Poet, Essayist, and Translator
Akio Fujimoto, Filmmaker
January 15th, 2025, 18:00 ~ 21:00
Room 409, Building 2, Sophia University
In person only
No registration necessary