RESUME

Professional

info

I hold a PhD in Sociology of Japan from the University of Hamburg, Germany. My research interests focus on consumption and consumer behavior in Japan, including the consumption of food and fashion. Recently, I am interested in various aspects of Japanese food culture such as activities of the Slow Food Movement, the nationwide food education campaign (shokuiku) initiated by the Japanese government in 2005, and Japanese agriculture.

My second field of interest is gender in the workplace. I have done research on the implementation of the Equal Employment Oportunity Law (EEOL) since it s enactment in 1986.

Work

experience

University of Hyogo, Kobe, Japan

School of Economics and Management

- Global Business Course -

Professor

April 2019 - present

The Global Business Course was founded in April 2019 with the aim to prepare Japanese and international students for a career in international management and business. All courses on this program will be taught in English. From fall 2019 onwards, I will be teaching an introduction to sociology and an introduction to cultural anthropology.

You can find more about this program here.

Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

Research Faculty of Media and Communication

Specially Appointed Professor

April 2014 - March 2019

I served as a specially appointed professor at the Research Faculty of Media and Communication at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan. I contributed to the Modern Japanese Studies Program (MSJP).

You can find more about this program here:

Courses taught:

Spring Semester 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018

Food and Nutrition in Contemporary Japan

Fall Semester 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018

Consumption in Japan

2016 and 2017 (Intensive Course on Fieldwork)

Workshop "Local/global food as revitalization" (taught in co-operation with Dr. Susanne Klien)

University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Institute of Asian and African Studies

Guest Professor

November 2013 - March 2014

Courses Taught: Introduction to Food and Nutrition in Contemporary Japan.

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, Freiburg, Germany

Japan Summer Program German Language and Culture for Japanese Students

Coordinator and Instructor

2011 - 2013

Coordinated a Language Exchange Program for Students of Akita University and Worked as Instructor for German Language and Culture.

Akita University, Akita, Japan

Faculty of Education and Human Studies

Associate Professor

2010 - 2014

Courses Taught: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Introduction to Socioloy, Gender in the Workplace.

Tokyo International University, Saitama, Japan

Japan Studies Program (JSP)

Part-Time Instructor

2005 - 2006

Courses Taught: Gender in Japanese Society (in English)

Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Center for the Advancement of Higher Education

Lecturer and research associate in the Center for the Study of Equality and Social Stratification.

2004 - 2010

Courses Taught: Introduction to German

Fellowships

1999 - 2001

Fellowship Awarded by the Japanese Government (Monbusho) for Rsearch towards a Doctoral Dissertation. Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.

2003

Carl-Meinhof-Fellowship

for the Completion of Doctoral Thesis at Institute of Asian and African Studies, University of Hamburg, Germany.

Prize

Award Excellence in Teaching, Hokkaido University, 2019

Languages

German (native)

English (full professional ability)

Japanese (full professional ability)

Education

University of Hamburg, Germany

Institute of African and Asian Studies

1998-2003

Doctor of Philosophy (magna cum laude)

Title of Doctoral Thesis:

Wertewandel und soziale Schichtung in Japan. Differenzierungsprozesse im Konsumentenverhalten japanischer Frauen [Value Change and Social Stratification in Japan. Aspects of Women’s Consumer Behavior]

1990 - 1997

Master of Arts in Japanese Studies, History and Political Science

Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

Department of Commerce