Transnational identity: The struggles of being and becoming a Japanese female professor in a neo-kokusaika phase of Japan

As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics approached (though now tentatively postponed to 2021), Japan stepped up on its nationwide kokusaika (“internationalization”) campaign to prepare for the big moment. This frenzied internationalization movement is not a new trend for Japan, particularly in the education sector where since the 1980s, the government has advanced a number of megaprojects in the name of kokusaika. Having completed my PhD in the United States on the internationalization of Japanese higher education, and having returned to Japan to begin working as a faculty member at a national university, I look into the development of my transnational identity through incidents, moments, and practices against the rhetoric and realities of kokusaika. This article argues that my analysis of the kokusaika phenomenon has shifted along with the changing tenor of my transnational experience from being a PhD student in the United States to becoming a Japanese female professor back in Japan. My transnational experience, as demonstrated in the article, helps put my own theorization of kokusaika in perspective, while also posing questions regarding “shifting transnationality” in knowledge production.

More gender bias in academia? Examining the influence of gender and formalization on student worker rule following

Student workers can influence professor productivity through the quality of research or teaching support provided. This is, in part, dependent on whether students follow the directions or rules put forth by the professor. While research on rule following is emerging, we know little about what influences rule following in student-professor work relationships. Using a survey experiment, we examine whether the way in which information is conveyed and who conveys it shapes student rule following. While we find students largely follow rules regardless of whether they are written or unwritten, we find significant gender bias. Male students are less likely to follow instructions given by a female professor than a male professor. Gender bias among student workers is another bias in academia that may influence productivity, but perhaps greater representation could reverse this trend.

The first women physicians in the history of modern Greek medicine

In an era when medicine in Greece was dominated by men, at the end of the 19th and during the first decades of 20th century, two women, Maria Kalapothakes [in Greek: Μαρία Καλαποθάκη] (1859-1941) and Angélique Panayotatou [in Greek: Αγγελική Παναγιωτάτου] (1878-1954), managed to stand out and contribute to the evolution of medicine. Maria Kalapothakes received medical education in Paris and then she returned to Greece. Not only did she contribute to several fields of medicine, but also exercised charity and even undertook the task of treating war victims on many occasions. Angélique Panayotatou studied medicine at the University of Athens and then moved to Alexandria in Egypt, where she specialized in tropical medicine and also engaged in literature. Panayotatou became the first female professor of the Medical School of Athens and the first female member of the Academy of Athens. In recognition for their contributions, Kalapothakes and Panayotatou received medals and honors for both their scientific work and social engagement.

Brown Body of Knowledge: A Tale of Erasure

In this autoethnographic piece, I offer five short poems reading as a “tale of erasure” in the academy. The poems document how my particular identities—Brown, immigrant, female, professor—came to bear during the negotiation of immigration status. This tale illuminates the particular intersection of these layered identities with institutional silencing processes. Beyond my immediate story, poetic prose helps to document experiences of silencing and annihilation, which are particularly difficult to put into words. In addition, the narratives offer insight into the specific complexities faced by foreign faculty in the U.S. academy.

Theologia and the ideologia of language, nation and gender – Gateway to the future from a deconstructed past

The article is a contribution to the centennial celebration of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria. It forms part of the section in the programme titled ‘Ethos – Critical perspectives on our past and a gateway to our future’ and is dedicated to Yolanda Dreyer who was the first female professor appointed in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria. The article reflects on aspects of the present-day populist discourse in South Africa and globally, which is enhanced by neonationalistic separatism. The following issues are critically discussed: homophobia regarding sexual minorities, a lack of sensitivity for the negative effects of male domination and the objection to English as the lingua franca for teaching. These aspects are assessed against the background of the Derridean notion of ‘deconstruction’ and the contributions of the first professors employed in the Faculty of Theology since its inception in 2017.