JPOSS #29: “Remembering Frances McCall Rosenbluth: Scholar, Mentor, and Friend”
The twenty-ninth session of the Japanese Politics Online Seminar Series (JPOSS) took place on April 14, 2022. Christina L. Davis (Harvard University) chaired the seminar and moderated the session.
Last November, we lost a brilliant scholar, inspirational mentor, and generous friend. She was one of the founding members of the Japanese Politics Online Seminar Series (JPOSS). In this session, we came together to honor and remember Professor Rosenbluth’s contributions to political science, with a focus on her work on Japanese politics, political institutions, and political economy. Tom Pepinsky (Cornell University) and others reflected on how Rosenbluth’s innovative scholarship on Japanese political economy, party politics and gender inequality made political scientists take Japan more seriously as an influential case worthy of study in its own right but also as an exemplar of broader political dynamics that could be observed in other countries. In these ways, Professor Rosenbluth masterfully used social scientific theories and methods to challenge pre-existing notions that the primary explanation for Japanese politics and society was rooted in culture. Hikaru Yamagishi (Yale University) and Trevor Incerti (Yale University) discussed their experiences working with Professor Rosenbluth as her doctoral students, each sharing personal memories of her tireless commitment to guiding, training, and helping students navigate the academic world as well as pursue field research in Japan. Countless participants shared similar stories.
This event attracted lose to one-hundred participants who came together virtually to share their positive experiences with Professor Rosenbluth and mourn her loss. 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/
Originally published on the Japanese Politics Online Seminar Series blog. Original publication can be found here.
