Dr. Mark Ravina

Biography

Mark Ravina is the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Chair in Japanese Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1991) and an A.B. from Columbia University (1983). His research interests focus on Japanese history, particularly the politics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with broader methodological interests in transnational and international dimensions of state-building. He authored the book 'Stand Up Nations of the World: Japan’s Meiji Restoration in World History' published in 2017 by Oxford University Press, which received a book prize from the Southeastern Conference Association of Asian Studies. As of 2023, he serves as the director of the university's JapanLab, a research initiative dedicated to creating digital content in Japanese Studies. His current teaching and research efforts explore digital humanities, including a study on digital mapping of history. Additionally, he has produced a 12-part audio-video course titled 'Rise of Modern Japan' for Wondrium and a 24-part course, 'Understanding Japan,' co-produced with the Smithsonian Institution. His other works include a biography of Saigō Takamori and translations of his publications in multiple languages, including Japanese, Chinese, and Polish.

Research Interests

Courses