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: Takehiro Watanabe (渡邉 剛弘)
Ph.D., Associate Professor
Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Sophia University
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
The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series
Japan’s Global Restaurant Scene After Three Years of Travel Restrictions
Melinda Joe, American Journalist based in Tokyo, Japan
Event on Zoom
Dec. 10 (Saturday at 10 am JST)
Dec. 9 (Friday at 8 pm in NYC)
Please register from HERE
Film Screening
A FILM BY Rosa Barbaran
Date: December 5th
Time: 17:15
Location: the Catholic Jesuit Center, Bldg. #2 1st floor
A video of the "European Restaurant Marketing in a Time of Crisis: a Conversation with Smartbox"(The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series) is available here:
The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series
Dharath Hoonchamlong , Food Scholar
Event on Zoom
Nov 19, 2022, 11:00 AM Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Tangled Mobilities: Places, Affects, and Personhood across Social Spheres in Asian Migration
Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot, PhD in Sociology from the Par-is Diderot University in France
Gracia Liu-Farrer, (Ph.D. Sociology, University of Chicago), Professor at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, and Director of Institute of Asian Migration at Waseda University,
Nov 14, 2022 06:30 PM Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo Hybrid Format
Zoom Meeting https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/92898295599
Meeting ID: 928 9829 5599
Passcode: ICC-Nov7
Venue: Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University Yotsuya Campus
Film Screening
FINDING THEIR NICHE UNHEARD STORIES OF MIGRANT WOMEN
A FILM BY MEGHA WADHWA
12th November 2022 15:30 – 17:30 (HOUR LONG FILM FOLLOWED BY 60 MINS Q&A) Venue: Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus, 7-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8554, BUILDING 2, ROOM NO. 309
Please RSVP – (https://forms.office.com/r/p4gSXndvpm)
Sophia University, Adopted Research Projects of Research in Priority Areas 2018-2021
Refugee and New Immigrant Support: The Role of the Church, Other Religious Groups, and Civil Society Organizations in the Sustainable Social Integration of Displaced Populations into Japan (David H. Slater) and Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Presents:
Bait and Switch: Japan refugee policy and practice leading to Ukraine
David H. SLATER, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Sophia University
Date: Nov. 18, 2022 (Fri)
Time: 19:00 – 20:30
Format: Zoom
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series for SORW
Organized by James Farrer (Global Japanese Cuisine Project: Culinary Mobilities and Urban Place Making)
Foodways and Social Sustainability
James Farrer, Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
Chuanfei Wang, Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
Nov. 18, 2022 (Fri)
11:00 – 13:00 (JST)
Hybrid (F2F and on Zoom)
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Burning Stories: The Displacement of People, Spirits, and Blame in Southeast Asia's Haze Crisis
Julia Cassaniti, Washington State University
October 14th (Friday) 6pm
In person and on zoom: Open to public, No registration necessary
Venue: Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University Yotsuya Campus
Zoom information: https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/93559716664
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Universal Buddhism, Regional Social Equality: Indian Ambedkarites in East Asia
Jon Keune, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University
November 30, 2022
15:30-16:30 Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
Format: Hybrid (No registration required)
In Person Venue: Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University
Zoom Meeting URL: https://sophia-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/95552319858
Meeting ID: 955 5231 9858
Passcode: 059486
The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series
European Restaurant Marketing in a Time of Crisis
a Conversation with ”Smartbox"
Speakers:
Deborah Van Looy (Account Manager Netherlands)
Emiliana De Luca (Account Manager Italy)
Giulia Azzarello (Account Manager Italy)
Guillaume Jollivet (Business Development Manager France)
Leonardo Adoni (Business Development Manager Italy)
Roberta Ringhieri (Key Account Business Development Manager Italy)
Event on Zoom
October 5, 9 pm, Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
Please register from HERE
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
On Her Terms: Yoshida Fujio, Self-Determination, and the Status of Women Artists in Modern Japan
Lillian Wies, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, ICC Visiting Researcher
October 6, 2022
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Face to Face only
Please register from HERE
A video of the "Writing for General Readers about Gender and Sexuality in Modern Japan" is available here:
A video of the "Literary Environmental Testimonies: An East/East conversation in the works of Ishimure Michiko and Abdel Rahman Munif on man-made environmental crises," is available here:
A video of the "The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series": Restaurants in Mexico During and Beyond COVID, is available here:
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture, the Japan Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council presents
Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty
Aynne Kokas, C.K. Yen Professor at the Miller Center and an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia (a recipient of Abe Fellowship)
July 20, 2022, 06:00 PM Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
Face to face and on Zoom
Face to face: (Room capacity: 30, Registration closes on July 17): Please register from here F2F
Zoom: Please register from here ZOOM
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Literary Environmental Testimonies: An East/East conversation in the works of Ishimure Michiko and Abdel Rahman Munif on man-made environmental crises
Munia Hweidi, PhD Candidate in Japanese Studies at Sophia University’s (Tokyo) Graduate Program in Global Studies.
Hyflex (Both in-person and on Zoom) format
June 29, 15:00-16:30
Room 301 (In person)
Please register from HERE
Film Screening supported by Catholic Jesuit Center and Center for Student Affairs
Artistic Ukraine film screening on June 29, 2022
Screening of 6 short films by Ukrainian Female Directors
Distributed by Ukrainian Female Film and Media Industry
Please click here for more information
Artistic Ukraine: Film Screening on June 29, 2022 (icc-sophia.com)
Photo Exhibition co-hosted with Catholic Jesuit Center and Center for Student Affairs
Artistic Ukraine Photo Exhibition from June 1st~30th
Please click here for more information
Artistic Ukraine: Photo exhibition (icc-sophia.com)
A video of "Beyond Bunraku: Japan’s Diverse Puppetry Heritage" with Dr. Orenstein is now available on YouTube.:
A video of the "The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series": A View From India in the Wake of Covid, is available here:
The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series
The Future of Eating Out：Restaurants in Mexico During and Beyond COVID
Scarlett Lindeman, Restaurateur and Food Journalist from Mexico City (CDMX)
Event on Zoom
June 15, 10 pm JST (9 am EDT)
Please register from HERE
A video of the "The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series": A View from South Africa, is available here:
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture and SGSRA presents
Writing for General Readers about Gender and Sexuality in Modern Japan
Sabine Frühstück, Koichi Takashima Chair and Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Event on Zoom
May 21, 2022, 10:00 (Tokyo time)
Please register from HERE
Contact: sophiagsresearchassociation@gmail.com
This event is organized by Sophia Gender and Sexuality Research Association with James Farrer (GPGS) and ICC
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2022
Beyond Bunraku: Japan’s Diverse Puppetry Heritage
Claudia Orenstein, Theatre Professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY
Event on Zoom
May 11, 2022, 7:00 pm (Tokyo time)
Please register from HERE
The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series
The Future of Eating Out：A View from India in the Wake of Covid
Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, Culinary Chronicler, Teacher and Corporate Food Consultant
Event on Zoom
May 10, 2022, 9:30~10:30 pm (Tokyo time)
May 10, 2022, 6:00~7:00 pm (India time)
May 10, 2022, 8:30~9:30 am (East Cost USA time)
Please register from HERE
The Future of Eating Out Lecture Series
The Future of Eating Out：A View from South Africa
Jean-Pierre Rossouw, Publisher of Rossouw’s Restaurants
A discussion with
Prof. James Farrer (Sophia University )
Prof. Krishnendu Ray (New York University)
Event on Zoom
March 30, 2022, 10 pm (Tokyo time)
March 30, 2022, 3 pm (Johannesburg time)
March 30, 2022, 8am 9 am (NY time)
Please register from HERE