In 1970, Koza epitomized an American cold war basetown. Located in the center of Japan’s southernmost prefecture, the Okinawan community was a cauldron of bars and sex, rock and roll, fear and racial violence, militarism and Americana kitsch. Walking down… Continue Reading
NHK News is reporting that Shuri Castle has apparently been nearly completely destroyed by a fire in the early morning hours of October 31. The cause is still unknown. A Japanese National Treasure and a UN World Heritage Site, the… Continue Reading
The fashionable Minatogawa Stateside Town sits just outside of Camp Kinser. Previously military housing for off-base contractors, the neighborhood has been slowly winnowed by private development and today hosts a small collection of boutique restaurants and shops ($300 handmade jeans,… Continue Reading
My humble website has been painfully neglected for more moons than I care to count. As with so many other early career academics, I initially built the site as a way to build my online presence (my “brand” *gag*, as… Continue Reading
This winter quarter, one of the classes I am teaching is an upper-division history course called “Food Empires of Asia and the Pacific.” I designed the course to draw from a wide temporality, covering everything from the Spice Route, to… Continue Reading
Next Wednesday, the Digital Commons at UCSC’s McHenry Library will be hosting the Digital Exhibit Building Symposium, which is shaping up to be a very engaging day of folks sharing their own visions of the digital humanities and the latest… Continue Reading
While teaching at UCSC, I am also the co-advisor for The Gail Project, a collaborative public and digital history project that focuses on postwar Okinawa and is specifically centered on the beautiful photographs taken by an American serviceman in the… Continue Reading
Last week, I wrapped up the final session of my course, “U.S. Bases and Social Movements in Asia.” As a senior seminar course, where the classroom is a space for discussion rather than lecture, students wrote a 25-page graduation thesis… Continue Reading
