1)--------------------------------------------------------------
From:Will Freiert
wfreiert@GAC.EDU
Will Freiert, Professor of (Greco-Roman) Classics at Gustavus Adolphus, a
liberal arts college in Minnesota.
My research interests are mostly on the use of the Classics in
contemporary American literature and the arts, but my wife and I spent a
year as exchange professors in Japan. I am interested in comparisons
between certain traditional aspects of Japanese culture and similar
phenomena in the ancient Mediterranean (e.g., patronage, religion,
theatre). I teach a "First Term Seminar", for entering frosh, on Japan.
My wife, also a Classics professor (and my department chair), has begun to
work in a major way on the arashi shiburi dying technique.
Request for advice:
I would be eternally grateful for any suggestions about how we might be
able to afford a sabbatical in Japan (on 60% of our salary, to boot!),
especially since our specialities are not in Asian studies at all. (We
are still in debt from the last time we were in Japan.)
Reply off list if you think it appropriate:
wfreiert@gac.edu
Thanks very much.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I think information of the sort Professor Freiert is
requesting would be of interest to others and I hope a) members will reply
on line and b) that Professor Freiert will make a compilation of any
private replies he receives and forward them to H-Japan for everyone's
reference.
2)--------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kevin Cretin
a-kevcre@MICROSOFT.COM
Hello. My name is Kevin Cretin, and I am currently the Asian History
Editor for Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. My interests focus mainly on
Asian literature; classical Chinese and post-war Japanese. I lived in
Miyazaki-shi for a year or so, where I wrote a brief weekly English
article for the Miyazaki Nichi Nichi Shinbun. Though I like most
post-war Japanese authors, my favorite is Abe Kobo. I have translated
(purely for my own edification - my Japanese language skills are not
that good) some works of Abe Kobo and Murakami Haruki. I look forward
to hearing any opinions people might have about Japanese literature (or
indeed, anything else). Thank you.
Kevin Cretin
Microsoft Corporation - Redwest C 3243
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
USA
tel: (206) 882-8080, x26654
e-mail: <a-kevcre@microsoft.com>
3)--------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kenneth Robb Robinson
kenr@hawaii.edu
To the H-JAPAN list members,
My name is Ken Robinson, and I am a PhD candidate in Korean history at
the University of Hawaii. My dissertation focuses on Korean-Japanese
relations from the late fourteenth century up to the Hideyoshi invasions
of the 1590s. I also treat Korean-Ryukyu and Korean-Jurchen relations in
describing how the Korean government organized its foreign relations and
controlled Japanese access to Korean open ports, and how Japanese traders
manipulated those access regulations. I have lived in Korea and Japan
for several years, and conducted my dissertation research in both
countries. My interest in Korean-Japanese relations extends into modern
and ancient periods, as well, as my Master's Thesis was a study of
Japanese, Korean, and western historiography on the "Mimana Nihon-fu
mondai," or whether the Yamato government had established a colony in the
southern Korean peninsula in the late fourth century.
Ken Robinson
kenr@hawaii.edu
4)--------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Jean W. Williams"
jqw3827@is2.NYU.EDU
Egregious delay in this self-introduction. I've been reading H-Japan
posts with great interest for the past few weeks.
As of May, I will be exactly half-way through my coursework towards a
Ph.D. in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the
Arts. My particular area of expertise is classical Japanese dance (i.e.,
nihon buyo and jiuta mai) in which I hold a natori teaching license and
gei mei stage name.
To be quite honest, I'm new to the world of academia. In my previous
incarnations I was involved in the business world (MBA International
Business, Georgia State University/l'Ecole Superieure de Commerce de
Paris) and worked as a freelance journalist in Tokyo for major
English-language dailies and monthlies specializing in Arts and
Entertainment. In all, I've spent 8 of the past ten years outside the US
and intend, during my doctoral coursework, to spend summers back in Tokyo.
I look forward to learning more about other members' areas of interest
and expertise and hope that, perhaps in some small way, I may be able to
contribute to this group.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to network.
Jean Williams
jqw3827@is2.nyu.edu
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END H-JAPAN MESSAGE