Decorum as Politics: Observations from Early Modern Japan
Luke Roberts - Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara
Friday, October 25, 2019 - 5:00pm to 6:00pm
Room 4420, Evans Hall
165 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT
06511
Many aristocratically ruled societies put great emphasis on decorum and propriety, requiring people to act in ways that disciplined and subordinated them to the standards of the rulers. Yet how did participants strive for and achieve what they desired? How did this theater of deference function in institutions and structure a broader political culture? These questions will be considered from the vantage point of Japan’s very long eighteenth century.
Professor Roberts teaches history of the Japanese islands from ancient to modern times. He enjoys teaching and uses many visual and literary documents to help integrate social and cultural history with the economic and political. Professor Roberts likes to get students to think creatively about doing history. His research mostly focuses on the period between the late 1500’s and the late 1800’s, and his graduate teaching focuses on history during this period.
Region:
Japan