Dr. Melinda Landeck

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Education:

B.A., Colorado State University.
M.A., Yale University.
Ph.D., University of Kansas.

Faculty Bio:

My fascination with Asian culture dates to a childhood attraction to Asian visual art, and I have now been professionally engaged in the field for two decades – an undergraduate certification in Asian Studies in my home state of Colorado led to a master’s degree program focused on premodern Japanese literature at Yale University in 2000. Subsequently, I became a teacher of Japanese language and culture, as well as Asian history, at Colorado State University (my undergraduate alma mater). My love of mentoring students both in and outside of the classroom later led me to the University of Kansas, where I completed the Ph.D. in East Asian History in 2015. My personal research centers upon Japan’s early modern period (1600-1868), tracing intersections between the political and artistic realms. I’m delighted to put these experiences to work with students at Austin College, where the value of interdisciplinary approaches to content are recognized.

Recent Courses:

At Austin College:

• EALC 252: Premodern Japanese Culture & Aesthetics
• JAPN 350A: Culture of Japan’s Edo Period
• JAPN 201: Intermediate Japanese Language

At the University of Kansas:

• HIST398: Japanese History from Anime to Zen
• HIST118: History of East Asia

Through the University of Colorado’s Program for Teaching East Asia (online):

• “Cracking the Samurai Code”
• “Premodern Japan”

Research Interests:

Early modern intellectual and aesthetic trends, material culture studies, traditional culture and national identity formation, Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu), traditional theater, East Asian diplomacy, war and memory, historical revisionism, environmental history in East Asia, Asian pop culture and “soft power.”

Links:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Research blog: http://kissakoculture.blogspot.com/
• Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/nhome/
• Academia profile: http://austincollege.academia.edu/MelindaLandeck

In the News:

• Japan Fest 2014

Publications:

• “What is Teachable about Japanese Tea Practice?” (Education about Asia, 2013)
• “Teaching Heian Japan” (Education about Asia, 2005)

Faculty Extras:

• Table Leader/Reader, AP Japanese Language and Culture Exam, 2008 to present
• Member, Association of Asian Studies
• Practitioner of Japanese tea ceremony, Urasenke school, 1995 to present