NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Japan

Guy Gloria A, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Gloria Guy of the University of California, Los Angeles to conduct a research project in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences area during the summer of 2013 at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan. The project title is "Comparing Ideological Narratives of Japanese State Formation." The host scientist is Professor Ken'ichi Sasaki. Archaeological investigations into state formation processes advance not only our understanding of the origin and development of individual nation-states, but also the ideological underpinnings of the global nation-state system. Modern citizens' understanding of their nation's history affects contemporary international politics, and this understanding is largely constructed through presumably objective archaeological research. Due to the difficulty of the Japanese written language, the unavailability of Japanese archaeological research findings abroad, and the restrictive Cultural Protection laws governing archaeological sites, the state of the Japanese archaeology field is extremely difficult for American researchers to ascertain, thus necessitating on-site collaborative research. This project compares the fieldwork practice, site-reports, museum displays, and popular history texts, for their presentation of kofun burial mounds and their relation to the formation of a complex, state-level society in 4-7th centuries CE, with particular attention to the role of ideology in each narrative. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of Japanese archaeological practice in an otherwise restrictive field; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, this research will illuminate how scholarly research on the past is re-packaged for popular consumption, with implications for how museum displays are crafted to best engage a viewing public.