CV

Fields of research

Social and cultural history of Japan, with special emphasis on a history of mentalities in the pre-modern era that uses of a wide range of sources, including literature and the visual arts, and a focus on the social construction of the life stages (childhood, old age) and of gender, on popular religious beliefs and practices, and on leisure activities such as travel and play.

Present position

Research fellow at the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (Institut für Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens), Austrian Academy of Sciences, since 1987

Personal information

• Born 1959 in Vienna, Austria
• Married, one daughter
• Lives and works in Vienna , Austria

Acadamic education

• 2001: PhD (Dr. phil.) at the University of Vienna with a thesis on the figure of the “wicked crone” in Edo-period popular culture and its social relevance
• 1986: M.A. (Mag.) in Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna with a thesis on birth control in pre-modern Japan
• 1981: Changes to Japanese Studies
• 1979: Enters the University of Vienna to study History of Art and Translation Studies (French, Japanese, Spanish)
• 1978: Studies History of Art at Free University of Brussels, Belgium

Professional experience

• 2003: Cooperates in a research project of the Institute for East Asian Studies, Department of Japanese Studies, University of Vienna, directed by Sepp Linhart, on “Japanese caricatures on colour woodblock prints (ukiyoe) from 1842 to 1900”
• 2002: Organizes (together with Sepp Linhart) a panel at the “12. Deutschsprachiger Japanologentag” in Bonn under the title “Gelächter als politische Strategie? Karikaturen der späten Edo- und frühen Meiji-Zeit” (“Laugh as Political Strategy? Caricatures of the late Edo and early Meiji periods”)
• 1999: Organizes an international conference on “Popular Japanese Views of the Afterlife”
• 1994: Organizes (together with Sepp Linhart) an international conference on “Aging. Asian Concepts and Experiences Past and Present”
• 1993: Organizes (together with Sepp Linhart) an international conference on “Buch und Bild als gesellschaftliches Kommunikationsmittel in Japan einst und jetzt” (“Books and Pictures as Media of Social Communication in Japan today and yesterday”)
• 1990: Organizes (together with Sepp Linhart) an international conference on “Japanese Biographies: Life Histories, Life Cycles, Life Stages”
• 1989-: Senior research fellow at the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia. Lectures at the Institute for Japanese Studies, University of Vienna, on classical Japanese (bungo) and Japanese kanbun
• 1987: Enters the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia as a junior research fellow to work on a research project on the history of old age in Japan sponsored by the FWF (Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung)
• 1986: Starts compiling the “Bibliography of German-language publications on Japan since 1980” edited by the the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (Institut für Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens), Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Languages

• German (mother tongue)
• English (fluent)
• Japanese (fluent)
• French (fluent)
• Italian (reading ability)
• Spanish (reading ability)