2003 Completed Hitotsubashi University Doctoral Program Graduate School of Social Science, 2005 Ph.D. Social Science Hitotsubashi University, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellowship for Young Scientists, Associate Professor Tohoku University Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, current position since 2015.

2-608 Wed. 15:25～17:05 or by appointment

Area studies is an interdisciplinary research area that focuses on a country or region in depth and crosses disciplinary boundaries to find appropriate research methods. To take one of my research topics as an example, Islam and democracy in Turkey, it is necessary to approach this topic from different perspectives, such as the characteristics of the Islamic religion, ideas and activists of specific Islamic movements, and the history of state-religion relations of Turkey. But these are not all. In the era of globalization, it is also important to consider international relations and the power relations among different cultural norms underlying them in order to contextualize the phenomena. Apart from academic purposes, studying area studies is fun because it gives you deep knowledge about other societies and cultures and broadens your perspectives while helping you realize your stereotypes and prejudices. I hope many of you give it a try.