CinEncounters
Established in 2012 and organized by Prof. Alexander Zahlten (EALC), CinEncounters is a forum for critical engagement with lesser-known masterpieces of Japanese cinema from the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. From the Japanese “New Wave” to Pink, from Anime to Documentary, screenings will foster a collective exploration with the unexpected, the uncharted and the unusual currents of Japanese film.
Monthly showings will offer an opportunity to gather, discuss and enjoy new encounters with films, filmmakers and the histories and stories behind them. Moreover, screenings will invite critics, filmmakers and others related to the films to join our discussions over Skype, when possible. All films are shown with English subtitles and no prior knowledge of Japanese is required.
Contemporary Japanese Politics
The Contemporary Japanese Politics Study Group was established in 1999 with the goals of better understanding key trends in politics and foreign policy in Japan and focusing a scholarly eye on key issues. This group enabled advanced Ph.D. students to circulate their works-in-progress (conference papers, draft dissertation chapters, etc.) and receive feedback, as well as faculty and postdoctoral fellows to present their research.
Chaired by Susan Pharr and Daniel Smith of the Department of Government and co-sponsored by the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations (USJRP) at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the group included over fifty faculty, graduate students, and others, both at Harvard and across the greater Boston and New England region.
In response to evolving audiences and platforms, this group was re-launched as the Japan Politics Online Seminar Series (JPOSS) in the 2020-21 as an inter-university initiative to: 1) promote discussion of works-in-progress, especially for early career stage scholars; (2) invite political scientists who do not specialize on Japan to serve as discussants and engage them with theories and evidence discussed in the Japanese political context; and (3) promote networking among scholars at different career stages, as well as those based in different countries and world regions. For more information, please visit their homepage here.