Language and Culture in Japan
Miri Nakamura
Comparative Literature
Miri Nakamura has been teaching Japanese literature and fairy tales at UC Davis since 2019. Born in Tokyo, Japan, and raised in California, she grew up bicultural and has been teaching Japanese language and literature since 1999. A UC alumnus, she holds a B.A. in French literature (UCLA), M.A. in Classical Japanese Literature (Columbia) and Ph.D. in Japanese Literature/Ph.D. Minor in Comparative Literature (Stanford). She specializes in modern and contemporary Japanese literature and she is also interested in Japanese popular culture and subculture. When traveling, she seeks out obscure events and hidden places and loves to share her discoveries with her students. A world traveler and a perpetual student of foreign languages herself, Miri understands that total immersion is the only way to acquire high level fluency, as well as to attain a deeper understanding of the culture beyond the textbook.
A Message to Students and Parents
"Hajimemashite, prospective students! I am excited and honored to be your study abroad guide for Kyoto in 2022!
A little about me: I am a first-generation Japanese who grew up in Tokyo and California. I have been teaching Japanese literature and culture for two decades (yes, I’m old), and I was Associate Professor of Japanese Literature at a liberal arts institution, Wesleyan University, before coming back to my home state to teach at UC Davis. As someone who grew up in a bilingual and bicultural setting, I enjoy sharing my knowledge of Japanese culture in a way that draws out not only the differences but also the similarities between the two cultures.
I love teaching abroad because I am a huge proponent of experiential learning. I believe that students learn best when they are engaged in activities that speak to their own interests and remember class content the most when they can apply the content to their everyday lives. Last time in Kyoto, I taught a Japanese cinema course, and at least a third of the course was spent outside of the classroom on field trips to museums, independent film theaters, archives, walking tours, and the Uzumasa film studio. Students were asked to make short videos as their final projects, and they took home their knowledge of Kyoto and their experience there in a visual format. For the UC Davis program, I hope to do even more and conduct 75% of the class outside of the classroom. As someone who is trained in both classical Japanese literature and contemporary popular culture, I look forward to reading medieval tales together at temples and natural landscapes where they were set, as well as geeking out on anime and manga at jazz cafes, maid cafes, and cat cafes (please let me know in advance if you have any allergies to cats, and I’ll take you to the pug café instead. LOL). As an educator, I strive to teach a fun yet informative class that students will remember for years to come. I hope that you can join me on this wonderful opportunity!"