Celebrating Women’s History Month

This week in North Philly Notes, we showcase titles for Women’s History Month. Use promo code TWHM24 for 25% off all our Women’s Studies titles. (Sale ends April 1, 2024.)

Gendered Places: The Landscape of Local Gender Norms across the United States, by William J. Scarborough, reveals how distinct cultural environments shape the patterns of gender inequality

Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors, edited by Sharon D. Wright Austin, examines the crucial role that Black women have carried out in the cities they govern

Solidarity & Care: Domestic Worker Activism in New York City, by Alana Lee Glaser, shows how intersectional labor organizing and solidarity can effectively protect workers in the domestic work sector and other industries

Forthcoming Titles:

Proper Women: Feminism and the Politics of Respectability in Iran, by Fae Chubin, provides an intersectional analysis of Iran’s feminist activism through an ethnographic study of an NGO-led women’s empowerment program (May)

Female Body Image and Beauty Politics in Contemporary Indian Literature and Culture, edited by Srirupa Chatterjee and Shweta Rao Garg, initiates a much-neglected and much-needed discussion of the politics of Indian women’s body image and self-identity (May)

Refounding Democracy through Intersectional Activism: How Progressive Era Feminists Redefined Who We Are, and What It Means Today, by Wendy Sarvasy, theorizes a useable radical past for intersectional activists today (June)

Recounting the History of Temple University Japan

This week in North Philly Notes, Richard Joslyn and Bruce Stronach, coauthors of The History of Temple University Japan, reflect on their experiences at TUJ and on writing their book.

Richard Joslyn

Preserving the history of Temple University Japan (TUJ)—which was in danger of being lost as principal participants passed away in the 1980s and 1990s and documentary evidence was forgotten or shredded—was a labor of love. With the support of Temple’s Provost and the Director of the library’s special collections research center, files in many university offices were searched and considerable documentary evidence was found and placed in a newly created TUJ Archive. These materials were supplemented with oral histories and essays by TUJ old-timers on what they considered to be important aspects of TUJ’s development. Without those contributions the historical record on which the book is based would have been much less complete, authentic, and revealing and fewer voices would have been heard.

Looking back, it is remarkable that the infant of 1982 and the young adult of 2002 has become the mature, confident, prosperous, and accomplished TUJ of today. Starting in 1982 with about 200 Japanese students taking an intensive English-language program exported from Temple’s Main Campus, with little knowledge of the students’ educational histories or linguistic abilities and no library or other amenities, classes were taught in a low-rise nondescript office building in the shadow of Tokyo Towe,r  TUJ now boasts a degree-seeking undergraduate enrollment of over 2,000, well-regarded graduate programs, a diverse student body and faculty from around the world, and first-class facilities on the campus of a Japanese university with which innovative partnerships have been created. Along the way, the very existence of TUJ was seriously in doubt three times, initial Japanese government hostility to the venture had to be overcome, University support sometimes (but infrequently) wavered, and the Fukushima earthquake and COVID pandemic seriously tested TUJ’s institutional capabilities and the University’s long-term commitment. 

Forty years later, TUJ has become emblematic of Temple’s slogan, “Perseverance Conquers All,” and is a beacon of hope and opportunity for thousands of students from around the world. It has been a privilege to attempt to tell its story in a way that does justice to its accomplishments and to share that story with others who are interested in the concept and practice of international education.

Bruce Stronach

Other than the pleasure it gave me to review the history of TUJ and its interesting trials and tribulations, failures and successes over the years, I found the  most important things about writing this book to be the partnership between Rich and I over the several years of writing, and the book’s timeliness.

Rich’s and my experiences with and perceptions of TUJ were quite different, given that Rich was first and foremost a Temple person whereas I, a Japan person, parachuted in from the outside. He was able to see the sweep of the years better than I, while I was completely focused on the contemporary context.  This gives the book the right balance of history and contemporary case study.

The other important thing about the book is, to me, its timeliness. As someone who is actively involved in supporting the development of global education, especially in the context of Japanese-American relations, I know that much remains to be accomplished  to create a truly global educational experience for each country’s universities. This book is a great blueprint for how to develop an effective overseas campus and, through that, educate students from around the world in a context that goes beyond the limiting designations of Japanese or American.

The one anecdote of many that sticks in my mind is the student from a Japanese university who “studied abroad” for a semester on the TUJ campus. When she went back to her home university and met one of her professors she said, “Wow, now I know what a real university is like.” I’ve always loved that.