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., Associate 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 University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Ecocriticism and Performance Today:
Reflections on Slow Dramaturgy
Peter Eckersall, City University of New York
October 10, 2023, 17:30 - 20:30
Room 301, 3F Building 10, Sophia University
Hybrid Format / Please register. https://forms.office.com/r/x6Y9RcM9cm
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
William Ascher, Donald C. McKenna Professor of Government and Economics at Claremont McKenna College
October 6, 2023 , 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Room 301, 3F Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
A Form of Structural Violence in Japan’s Adult Video Industry?
Akiko Takeyama, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Kansas
July 24 from 19:00 to 20:30
In Person Only/ No registration required/ Lecture in English
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Middlebrow Media and White-Collar Masculinity in Japan’s Era of High Economic Growth
Hannah Airriess, Assistant Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington.
July 26, 2023 / 19:30- 21:00 (JST)
Hybrid (In-Person and on Zoom)
Venue: Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
Please register from here: https://forms.office.com/r/fnwhx8Rc1b
A panel discussion presented by SGSRA, GPGS and ICC
Gender and Sexuality in Migration Research
July 13 / 18:00-19:30,
Room 301, Bldg.10, Sophia University
In person only
Click HERE for more information
A workshop presented by KASA Sustainability, GPGS and ICC
Niccolo Lollini, a faculty member at the Graduate School of Governance Studies at Meiji University
Bldg. 10-428 | Fri, 14 July 2023 | 05:00 PM | in-person
Register via link: https:/kasasustainability.org/environmental-change-workshop
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Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Seitō (1911-1916) and the global New Woman
Eleanor Medhurst, A historian of lesbian fashion and author of the website Dressing Dykes
July 21, 2023
07:30 PM Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
Format: Online only
Registration necessary: https://forms.office.com/r/eJCLTNSGEn
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Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Teshigahara Sōfu and Japan’s Postwar Internationalization
Alice Ashiwa, Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at UCLA and a visiting researcher at the Institute of Comparative Culture at Sophia University
July 14, 2023 18:00-19:30
In person only / No registration necessary
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
“This Absolutely is not a Hui Rebellion!”
The Ethnopolitics of Great Nationality Chauvinism in Early-Maoist China
Benno Weiner, Associate Professor in the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University
July 6, 2023, 17:30-19:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10
In person only/No registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Global Food Project Book Launch
The Global Japanese Restaurant:
Mobilities, Imaginaries and Politics (University of Hawai’i Press 2023)
James Farrer, Sophia University, Japan
David L. Wank, Sophia University (emeritus) and Tōyō Bunko, Japan
Christian A. Hess, Sophia University, Japan
Mônica R. de Carvalho, SKEMA Business School, Brazil
Lenka Vyletalova, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Chuanfei Wang, Hosei University, Japan
July 11, 2023, 18:30-20:00 (Japan time)
In person: Room 10-301, Sophia Yotsuya Campus
On Zoom: register HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents
POETRY READING, TALK AND BUTOH
July 3rd, 19.00 till 21.00
Building 6, Room 404, Sophia University
Sophia University Institute of Comparative and SRSG presents
日付・Date: June 23, 2023
会場・Venue Room 309, Building 2
開場・Room open at 17:30
上映開始・Screening starts from 18:00 (Film length approx. 2 hours)
解説と質疑応答(日本語のみ）・Commentary and Q and A in Japanese only (no translation available) from 20:00 to 21:00
映画は日本語のみ（他の言語の字幕はありません）Film is in Japanese without subtitles
詳細はチラシをご覧ください。
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents
Screening of “Paper City”
Memories of the Tokyo firebombing
Q&A with writer/director, Adrian Francis
Moderator: Dr. David McNeill
June 21, 18:30-20:30 (approx.)
Room 201 in bldg. 6, Sophia University
https://forms.office.com/r/Fj8Uh03uNu
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Exploring the philosophical foundations of a slow gastronomy
Maddalena Borsato, Senior Researcher in the R-GIRO project at Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto) within the Faculty of Gastronomy Management
June 14, 2023, From 17:30 to 19:00
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In-person only / No prior registration required
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
The Art of Resistance: Myanmar Artists under Siege
Speakers: Four Myanmar Artists
More information on the flyer or HERE: The Art of Resistance: Myanmar Artists under Siege (icc-sophia.com)
June 15, 2023, 18:00-20:00 (JST)
Zoom only
Registration essential: Please register from HERE
https://forms.office.com/r/ByyjBGkBke
(Registration closes on June 14, noon, JST)
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
“Cinema of Discontent: Representations of Japan’s High-Speed Growth”
Tomoyuki Sasaki, Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the College of William & Mary in Virginia
Friday, June 9, 5:30 PM (JST)
In person and on zoom
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
Please register: https://forms.office.com/r/7sy8EdHqrV
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Horiguchi Sutemi’s Plan for a Total Man’yō Park in Yugawara
Naomi Kuromiya, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University and Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Comparative Culture at Sophia University
June 8, 2023, 18:00-19:30
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
In person only
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents
Contesting and Commemorating Trauma in East Asia
A book talk for Routledge Handbook of Trauma in East Asia, edited by Tina Burrett and Jeff Kingston
Jeff Kingston, Chair/moderator, Professor of History and Asian Studies, Temple University, Japan
Tina Burrett, Associate Professor of Political Science, Sophia University
Sven Saaler, Professor of Modern Japanese History, Sophia University
Christian Hess, Associate Professor of Modern Chinese History, Sophia University
Collin Rusneac, PhD candidate, Heidelberg University,
May 26, 2023, 18:00-19:30
Room 404, Building 6, Sophia University
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Two Lectures on Japanese Buddhist Art
Distinguishing the Phoenix: Conceptual Landscapes of Buddhist India in Medieval Japan (15:00-)
Rachel Saunders, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Curator of Asian Art at the Harvard Art Museums
Echoes of the Past: Korean Buddhist Bells that Rang at Shrines in Japan and Ryukyu (16:20-)
Sherry Fowler, Professor of Japanese Art History at the University of Kansas
15:00-18:00 (approx.), 27 May (Sat) 2023
Room 301 (3F), Building 10, Yotsuya Campus, Sophia University
In person only
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Insitute of Comparative Culture presents
EU Energy Politics in the Shadow of the Ukraine War
Jens Geier, SPD member of the EU Parliament
May 22, 2023, 18:00-19:30
Room 407, Building 6, Sophia University Yotsuya Campus
In Person Only
Sophia University Institute of International Relations and the Institute of Comparative Culture presents:
Whither Security on Okinawa: Recapitulating international relations through a layered approach
Ra Mason, Sasakawa Associate Professor of International Relations and Japanese Foreign Policy at the University of East Anglia (UEA)
Friday 2 June 2023, 5:20pm (JST)
Event Format: Hybrid
In-person: Building 2 Room 407
On Zoom: https://sophia-ac-jp. zoom.us/j/99818041419
Meeting ID: 998 1804 1419 Passcode: 110742
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Locally National: Koseki Rokuhei and the Advent of Contemporary Lacquer Art in Iwate
Joel Thielen, Ph.D. candidate in the History of Art Department at the University of California, Berkeley and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Comparative Culture at Sophia University
May 18, 2023, 18:00~19:30
Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Yotsuya Campus, Sophia University
In person only
No registration required, Free of charge.
Language: English (No translation)
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Hashtag activism found in translation: Unpacking the reformulation of #MeToo in Japan (*)
Saki Mizoroki, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Isarel, University of Tokyo
April 28th (Friday), 5:30 PM (JST) – 7:00 PM (JST)
Zoom only
Join Zoom Meeting
https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/99468537215
Meeting ID: 994 6853 7215
Passcode: 982771
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Workshop
"Migration to Japan: Focus on Kurdish Communities" Workshop
Hosts: Dr. Evelyn Reuter (Visiting Scholar, Sophia University)
Dr. David H. Slater (Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Sophia University)
Inquiries and Contact: Dr. Evelyn Reuter (evelynareuter@gmail.com)
April 8 (15:00-18:00) and April 9 (10:00-12:30), 2023
Room 301, 3F Building 10, Sophia University Yotsuya Campus
No registration necessary,
In-person only
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
The rise of China and what it means for democracies in East Asia
Alexander Goerlach, PhD
March 29 2023, 18:00—20:00
Room 301, 3F Building 10, Sophia University Yotsuya Campus
No registration necessary,
In-person only
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Memories of Cinema-Going in Postwar Japan: An Ethno-history
Jennifer Coates, Professor of Japanese Studies at the School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield
Jan 25, 2023 05:30 PM – 07:00 PM (Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo) Hybrid (In-person and on Zoom)
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
NOYAKI 野焼き: Fire, Art, and Ecology During the Economic Bubble
Bert Winther-Tamaki, Professor of Art History at the University of Cali-fornia, Irvine
Feb 2, 2023, 18:00~19:30
In person only
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Robo-Buddhism: Technology, Design, and Spirituality in Japan Today
Jennifer Robertson, Professor Emerita, Anthropology and History of Art University of Michigan, Visiting Professor, Tokyo University (January and February 2023)
January 19th, 2023, 18:00~19:30
In person only
Please register from HERE
A workshop presented by GPGS and ICC
Climate Change and the Politics of Land
Saturnino "Jun" M. Borras, Jr., Fellow at the Transnational Institute
6:00 PM (GMT+9), 11 JAN 2023
Online event: register at kasasustainability.org/environmental-change-workshop
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series with GPGS
Sexuality and the Rise of China: The Post-90s Young Gay Generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China
Travis Kong, Associate Professor and Programme Director of Media, Culture and Creative Cities in the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong
Date and Time: 2023/01/11 From 18:30-20:00 (JST)
Format: Hybrid (In-person and on Zoom)
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Japan on American TV: An Alternate History of US Fascinations and Fears of Japan
Alisa Freedman, Professor of Japanese literature, cultural studies, and gender at the University of Oregon
Dec 16th, 5:30 PM ~7:00 PM (JST)
Hybrid format
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Feminism, Bourgeois Liberalism and Shimada Yoshiko’s Becoming a Statue of a Japanese ‘Comfort Woman’
Namiko Kunimoto, Director of the Center for Ethnic Studies at Ohio State University and Associate Professor in the Department of History of Art.
2/15 (Th), 18:00-19:30
Room 301, 3F, Sophia University Yotsuya Campus, Building 10
In person session only
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2023
Wartime Civil Air Defense, Aviation, and Japan’s Aerial Imaginary
Gennifer Weisenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Distinguished Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Duke University
Moderator: Noriko Murai (Professor of Art History, Sophia University)
October 31, 2023, 18:00 - 19:30
Room 301, 3F Building 10, Sophia University
n person only