Faculty
Rae Yang
Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Literature (1990).
Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1981; M.A., University of Massachusetts, 1985; Ph.D., 1991.
Email: yang@dickinson.edu
Her fields of specialization are pre-modern and modern Chinese fiction with emphasis on psychoanalytic criticism. Her research and teaching interests include Chinese language teaching, Chinese folklore, comparative literature, and autobiographical writing.
Minglang Zhou
Associate Professor of East Asian Studies (2001).
B.A., Guangdong Foreign Trade and Studies University, PR, China, 1978; M.A., Henan University, China, 1986; M.A., Portland State University 1988; Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1993.
Email: zhoum@dickinson.edu
His current research focuses on language policy, multilingualism, and ethnic relations in China. His book "Multilingualism in China: The politics of writing reform for minority languages" appears in the Contribution to the Sociology of Language Series, and his edited book "Language policy in China: Theory and practice since 1949" is recently published in Language Policy Series. He has also published in Internatonal Journal of the Sociology of Language, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Journal of Bilingual Research, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualsim, and other scholarly journals. He teaches Chinese, linguistics, East Asian Studies, and anthropology.
Neil B. Weissman
Provost and Dean of the College, Russell I. Thompson Chair of the Dean of the College, Professor of History (1975).
B.A., Colgate University, 1970; M.A., Princeton University, 1972; Ph.D., 1976.
Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, 1984-1985.
Email: weissmne@dickinson.edu
His areas of specialization involve the comparative history of Russia, Japan, and Germany, with emphasis on the impact of revolution and modernization on traditional societies and cultures. His research deals with police and deviance in early Soviet Russia.
David G. Strand
Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science (1980).
B.A., Lawrence University, 1971; M.A., Columbia University, 1973; M.Phil., 1974; Ph.D., 1979.
Email: strand@dickinson.edu
Home Page: http://www.dickinson.edu/~strand/
His field is 20th century Chinese politics and history with related interests in comparative social and political development.
Ann M. Hill
Professor of Anthropology (1986).
B.A., Columbia University, 1971; M.A., University of Iowa, 1974; Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1982.
Email: hillan@dickinson.edu
Home Page: http://www.dickinson.edu/~hillan/
She has conducted fieldwork in both Thailand and SW China. As a cultural anthropologist, her research has focused on ethnicity, kinship and religion.Recently, she spent a sabbatical leave studying the religion and ritual of the Nuosu, an ethnic group in China's Yunnan Province.
Neil J. Diamant
Associate Professor of Asian Law and Culture (2002).
B.A., Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1988; M.A., University of Washington, 1991; Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1996.
Email: diamantn@dickinson.edu
Akiko Meguro
Visiting Instructor in Japanese Language (2003).
B.A., Tohuku University, 1994; M.A., 1996.
Email: meguroa@dickinson.edu
Professor Meguro specializes in Japanese language pedagogy and Japanese Applied Linguistics. Her research interest is Interlanguage pragmatics, specially on Japanese refusal. She is interested in applying cutting edge technology into Japanese language education. In her courses, she incorporates language exchange using Skype and mixi and have students communicate native speaker of Japanese on regular basis. She is also the coordinator for the study abroad programs in Japan.
Hiroe Aoto
Visiting Scholar 
East Asian Studies
Email: aotoh@dickinson.edu
Aoto Hiroe is visiting instructor in Japanese in the East Asian Studies Department. Ms. Aoto is on leave from her position as Instructor of Japanese Language and Writing, Okayama Prefectural University, Okayama, Japan. In addition to a B.A. in Law from Okayama University, she has an M.A. in Linguistics from San Jose State University. Ms. Aoto has extensive experience teaching Japanese to international students at all levels of instruction and is particularly interested in the connection between language and culture.
Alex Bates
Assistant Professor
East Asian Studies
Email: batesa@dickinson.edu
Alex Bates earned his Ph.D. in Japanese literature from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He received his BA in Japanese from Brigham Young University. Dr. Bates has spent many years living in Japan, most recently as a Fulbright Fellow at Ritsumeikan University. His research focuses on the literature of the twenties and particularly issues of representation and class surrounding the 1923 Tokyo earthquake. At Dickinson, Dr. Bates is looking forward to extending his research into early twentieth century urban modernism and visual culture.
Shawn Bender
Assistant Professor
East Asian Studies
Email: benders@dickinson.edu
Shawn Bender earned his Ph. D. in Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego. His academic interests range across the fields of anthropology, ethnomusicology, and Japanese studies. His most recent research explores how the current popularity of taiko (drum) ensembles in Japan dramatizes the relationship between the "traditional" past and modern Japanese present. Dr. Bender is currently preparing a book manuscript based on this research, and has recently authored an article on the subject of taiko, "Of Roots and Race: Discourse of Body and P;ace in Japanese Taiko Drumming," which apperared in the journal Social Science Japan (8(2): 2005). Dr. Bender has taught previously at UCSD and Lake Forest College. At Dickinson, he plans to continue his research on Japanese culture and to teach courses in the Departments of East Asian Studies and anthropology.