SOAS University of London

Department of the Languages and Cultures of Japan and Korea

Department Staff

Head of Department

Dr Barbara Pizziconi

Undergraduate Admissions Tutors

Dr Alan Cummings (Japan)

Dr Grace Koh (Korea)

Undergraduate Programme Convenors

Dr Alan Cummings (BA Japanese)

Dr Alan Cummings (BA Japanese Studies)

Dr Jaehoon Yeon (BA Korean)

Postgraduate Programme Convenors

Professor Stephen Dodd (MA Japanese Literature)

Professor Stephen Dodd (MA Japanese Studies)

Dr Anders Karlsson (MA Korean Studies)

Dr Grace Koh (MA Korean Literature)

Dr Marcos Centeno (MA Global Cinemas and the Transcultural)

Dr Barbara Pizziconi (MA ...and Intensive Japanese)

Dr Anders Karlsson (MA ...and Intensive Korean)

Postgraduate Research Tutor

Dr Anders Karlsson

Please note that for Masters Students the Admissions Tutor and Personal Tutor is the Postgraduate Programme Convenor.

Academic Staff

Andrew Gerstle
Professor of Japanese Studies
Drew Gerstle
Japanese literature, drama and thought, primarily of the Tokugawa period, with particular interest in Bunraku and Kabuki theatre and the plays of Chikamatsu
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4207
  • Email: ag4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 390
  • Office Hours: Wednesday 11am-12noon/Email for an appointment
Stephen Dodd
Professor of Japanese Literature
Steve Dodd
Modern Japanese literature, with particular interest in representations of the native place (furusato), gender/sexuality and modernity
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4216
  • Email: sd5@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 381
  • Office Hours: Wednesday 3-4pm/Email for an appointment
Akiko Furukawa
Principal Lector in Japanese
Akiko Furukawa
  • Tel: +44(0) 207 898 4233
  • Email: af15@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 383
  • Office Hours: Wednesday 3-4pm / Thursday 3-4pm
Anders Karlsson
Senior Lecturer in Korean
Anders Karlsson
Korean language; literature and society; history of 19th century Korea
  • Tel: 020 7898 4265
  • Email: ak49@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 388
  • Office Hours: Tuesdays 3pm-5pm / Thursdays 11am-12.30pm
Griseldis Kirsch
Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Japanese Culture
Griseldis Kirsch

Contemporary Japanese culture, with particular interest in Japanese media and popular culture, representations of 'Otherness', social phenomena and war memory.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4288
  • Email: gk10@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 377
  • Office Hours: Email for an appointment
Grace Koh
Lecturer in Korean Literature
Grace Koh

Korean and East Asian literary traditions (prose and fiction); literary and intellectual history; travel literature and cultural encounters; critical theory and comparative literature

  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4290
  • Email: gk5@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 385
  • Office Hours: Tuesday 2-3pm/Thursday 3-4pm (term time only)
Owen Miller
Lecturer in Korean Studies
Owen Miller

Modern Korean history and society; Korean historiography; social and economic history of 19th and 20th century Korea

  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4363
  • Email: om4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 408
  • On Sabbatical:On leave, Term 2 (2015-16)
Barbara Pizziconi
Reader in Applied Japanese Linguistics
Barbara Pizziconi
Japanese applied linguistics; language teaching methodology; second language acquisition with emphasis on pragmatic aspects; linguistic politeness
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4225
  • Email: bp3@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 362
  • Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm/Email for an appointment
Nana Sato-Rossberg
Lecturer in Translation Studies and Japanese Language
Nano Sato-Rossberg

History of Translation Studies in Japan, Intergeneric translations (manga to film), Translation of oral narratives or orality, Cultural translation, The relationship between translation and power.

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4224
  • Email: ns27@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 380
  • Office Hours: Monday 4-5pm /Friday 4-5pm (term 1)
Isolde Standish
Reader in Film and Media Studies, Department of Japan and Korea
Isolde Standish: Centre for Film Studies

East Asian film and visual media

  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4227
  • Email: is16@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 574
  • On Sabbatical:2015-16/2016-17
Jae Hoon Yeon
Professor of Korean Language and Linguistics
Yeon Jaehoon
Korean language and linguistics, especially morpho-syntax and linguistic typology; structure and history of Korean language; Korean language teaching and translation; modern Korean literature
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4232
  • Email: jy1@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 384
  • Office Hours: By email appointment

Senior Lectors

Seiko Harumi
Senior Lector in Japanese
Seiko Harumi
  • Tel: +44(0) 207 898 4274
  • Email: sh96@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 367
  • Office Hours: Monday 15:00-16:00, Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00
Misako Kanehisa
Senior Lector in Japanese
Staff Silhouette
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4235
  • Email: mk7@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 480
  • Office Hours: Tuesday 5-6pm(LL E37)/Wednesday 4-5pm(480)

Teaching Fellows

Marcos Centeno
Lecturer in Film Studies, Department of Japan and Korea
Marcos Centeno

Japanese cinema with particular interest in post-war avant-gardes and documentary film. Representation of youth, gender and ethnic minorities. Transculturality, new waves, film theory, visual anthropology and archaeology of images.

  • Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4227
  • Email: mc100@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 574
  • Office Hours: VS: Tues 5-6pm, Thurs 6-7pm / Appointment by email
Alan Cummings
Senior Teaching Fellow In Japanese
Alan Cummings
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4200
  • Email: ac50@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 391
  • Office Hours: (Term 2) Wednesday 3-4pm; Friday 5-6pm
Satona Suzuki
Senior Teaching Fellow in Japanese
Satona Suzuki
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4648
  • Email: ss116@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 374
  • Office Hours: Monday 11:00-12:00; Wednesday 13:00-14:00

Research Associates

J E Hoare
Research Associate
J E Hoare

FCO Research Analysts (China, Japan and Korea) for 33 years. PhD from SOAS 1971 in Japanese history. Served in Seoul, Beijing and in 2001-2002, established the British Embassy in Pyongyang., Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Has taught Korean history at SOAS and currently teaches a course, “The Other Korea” on North Korea since 1945. Numerous publications, broadcasts etc.

Research Fellows