The twentieth session of the Japanese Politics Online Seminar Series (JPOSS) took place on September 23, 2021. Christina L. Davis (Harvard University) chaired the seminar and moderated the question and answer session.
The sessions included discussions of the experiences of Japan scholars working in the US and Japan. Sherry L. Martin (U.S. Department of State) reflected on her experiences launching an academic career in the US and her subsequent transition into government work, highlighting the many ways in which Japan scholars can leverage their expertise to pursue a career in public service. Kenneth Mori McElwain (University of Tokyo) provided unique insights on how and why Japanese post-secondary institutions may wish to hire political scientists from abroad who do research on Japan. Kristin Vekasi (Harvard Program on U.S.-Japan Relations; University of Maine) discussed her experiences applying to academic and non-academic jobs, highlighting how Japan scholars can use their regional expertise to bring new perspectives in teaching and research as well as the importance of emphasizing their foreign language skills.
The session attracted several participants and included an active Q&A session on said topics. The organizers would like to thank the presenters, discussants, and participants, as well as the staff at the Harvard Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, who provided administrative support. We look forward to seeing you at the next session of JPOSS: https://jposs.org/