Dr. Thomas Gaubatz

Biography

Thomas received his Ph.D. in Japanese Literature from Columbia University in 2016. His research interests primarily focus on early modern Japanese literature, media, and society, particularly the role literature plays in conceptualizing urban space and the identities it engenders. His research examines the mutual implications between literary history and the material histories of books, as well as their interpretation in a social history context. His current project investigates how genres of popular narrative fiction registered and reflected shifts in the discourses and practices that structured urban commoner identity between the late 17th and 19th centuries. Additionally, his primary research focus is on media theory and the history of commercial publishing in Japan, utilizing media-theoretic approaches to examine woodblock-printed books. Thomas's teaching interests encompass premodern Japanese literature and book history, literature, media and culture during the Meiji era (1868-1912), advanced and classical Japanese language studies, and interdisciplinary comparative approaches to urban history and the critical examination of digital games in Japanese global contexts.

Research Interests