Mentoring

I learn a great deal from students and welcome those who share regional or topical research interests with me, including focus on kinship, divorce, law, citizenship / nation, intimacy, anthropology, or contemporary Japanese studies. If you are considering applying to graduate school and seeking advice, please see my thoughts here.


UNDERGRADUATE HONORS THESIS ADVISING
Primary honors thesis advisor for Adrian Beyer: “Thai Boys Love TV Dramas” 2023 B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies & Asian Languages and Cultures, the University of Michigan.

Primary honors thesis advisor for Thomas Profitt III: “Ainu Culture in Contemporary Japan” 2023 B.A. in Anthropology, the University of Michigan.

Primary honors thesis advisor for Xiyu Ceciel Zhong: “Playing Romance an Exploration of Fantasy, Agency, and Imagination through Otome Games” 2022 B.A. in Women's and Gender Studies, the University of Michigan.

Second honors thesis reader for Nadia Shebli: “When’s the Toulbe?!” Deconstructing the Gendered Binary of Cultural Identity Through Arab-Muslim American Women’s Experience with Marital Traditions” 2022 B.A. in Women's and Gender Studies, the University of Michigan.

Primary advisor for Xiyu Ceciel Zhong: “Students’ Perception of College Campus Restorative Justice Programs in Community Healing from Gender-Based Violence” 2021 Grant for Research on Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Violence, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, the University of Michigan.

Second honors thesis reader for Kimiko Varner: “The End of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu: A Study of SCAP Policy and Opposition” 2021 B.A. in Asian Languages and Cultures, the University of Michigan.

Primary honors thesis advisor for Sommer Albert: “Mad Girl’s Love Song: A Heuristic Inquiry into the Intrapersonal Experience of Having a Crush” 2020 B.A. in Gender & Health and Psychology with a Minor in LGBTQ* and Sexuality Studies, the University of Michigan.

Primary honors thesis advisor for Zari Smith: “Localization of Japanese Video Games” 2020 B.A. in Asian Studies focusing on Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan.

Second honors thesis reader for Mari A. Alvarez: "TRANSforming Healthcare: An Examination of Cisnormativity in Patient-Provider Interactions." 2019 High Honors B.A. in Women's Studies, the University of Michigan. Mx. Alvarez is now working on joint MAs in Social Work and Public Health.

Primary honors thesis advisor for Chelsea Jack: “Understanding the Relationship between Law and Subjectivity in the Honor System at the University of Virginia.” 2014 Honors B.A. in Anthropology and Political & Social Thought, the University of Virginia. Ms. Jack is now a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at Yale University.

Primary honors thesis advisor for Xinyan Peng: ““Korean Wave” in Taipei: The Construction of Beautiful Women.” 2013 B.A. in Anthropology and Economics, the University of Virginia. Dr. Peng earned a Ph.D in Anthropology from the University of Virginia and is now an Assistant Professor at Shandong University.


MASTERS ADVISING
Committee chair for Isaac Wittenberg: “Queer Intimacy in an Age of Low Birthrates.” Masters in International and Regional Studies, Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2023.

Committee chair for Christian OKeefe: “Good Wives and Patriotic Mothers: The Intersection of Nihonjinron Discourse and Ideals of Patriotism on Korean Women’s Bodies in Postwar-Japan.” Masters in International and Regional Studies, Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2023.

Committee chair for Alexandria Molinari: “Imagery and Activism in Postwar Japanese Anti-Art Regarding War and Nuclear Disarmament.” Masters in International and Regional Studies, Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2022.

Committee chair for Chiara Gerding: “Legal and Social Responses to Sexual Violence in Contemporary Japan.” Masters in International and Regional Studies, Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2022.

Committee chair for Alice Register: “Destination Okinawa: Representation as Practiced in Contemporary Okinawan Society.” M.A. in Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2018.

Committee chair for Karin Tompkins: “Goals and Motivations of Students Studying Japanese as a Second or Foreign Language.” M.A. in Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2018.

Committee member for Gal Lahav: “LGBTQ+ Pride and Representation in Contemporary Tokyo." M.A. in Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, 2018.

Committee member (2011-2012) for Catherine Madeo: “The New Mammoni: Why the cultural perception of Italy’s mama’s boys has changed.” M.A. in Anthropology, the University of Virginia, 2012.


DOCTORAL ADVISING
Committee member for Sheng Long: “Numbering Land: The Ethical Measures of Geography and Subjectivity in Rural China.” Doctoral student, Anthropology, the University of Michigan.

Committee chair for Kunisuke Hirano: “Refusing the Mainstream: Strategizing for Uncertain Futures through Educational Choices in Contemporary Japan.” Ph.D. in Asian Languages and Culture, the University of Michigan, 2021.

Committee member for Swarnim Khare: “Tihar Jail: Writing Innocence, Writing Torture.” (Doctoral student, Asian Languages and Culture, the University of Michigan).

Committee member for Whitney Hegseth: “Comparing to Uncover: The Whys, Hows, and Whats of Schooling” (Doctoral student, School of Education, the University of Michigan).

Committee member (2015-2019) and previously chair (2012-15) for Macario Garcia: “Sensing Incarceration: Mobility, Animacy, and Becoming Human in Correctional America.” (Ph.D. in Anthropology, the University of Virginia, 2019). Dr. Garcia is now an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Kennesaw State University.

Committee member (2015-17) and previously chair (2013-15) for Dannah Dennis: “Re-Imagining the Nation: Citizens in the New Nepal.” (Ph.D. in Anthropology, the University of Virginia, 2017). Dr. Dennis is now a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bucknell University.

Outside reader (2014-15) for Anand Rao’s dissertation: “Self-Help or Self-Destruction? Immigration Politics in Germany, Italy, and Japan” (Ph.D. in Politics, the University of Virginia, 2015). Dr. Rao is now an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at State University of New York, Geneseo.

Outside reader (2011-2012) for Jessica Starling’s dissertation: “A Family of Clerics: Temple Wives, Tradition, and Change in Contemporary Jodo Shinshu Temples” (Ph.D. in Religious Studies, the University of Virginia, 2012). Dr. Starling is now an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Lewis & Clark College.