Faculty Profile
Shawn Bender
Associate Professor of East Asian Studies (2006)
Contact Information
Stern Center for Global Educ Room 105B
717-245-1817
Bio
Professor Bender earned his doctorate in cultural anthropology at the University of California, San Diego in 2003. At Dickinson he teaches courses on contemporary Japanese society, popular culture, music, demographic change, health and aging, and technology. Since the late 1990s, Prof. Bender has conducted ethnographic fieldwork with taiko drumming groups in Japan. This scholarship is the basis of his book entitled Taiko Boom: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion (2012, UC Press). He has also examined the introduction of traditional musical instruments in primary and secondary school curricula in Japan. More recently, his research has focused on the connections among discourses of demographic crisis, changes in elder care, and the development of robotics in Japan and Europe. This work has taken him both to Japan and to Denmark (where some Japanese robotics technologies have found a home). Prof. Bender is also affiliated with the department of Anthropology at Dickinson and the Health Studies Certificate Program. He has received numerous research grants from such institutions as the Japan Foundation and the Japanese Ministry of Education. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Asian Studies and in Social Science Japan Journal.
Education
- B.A., University of Minnesota, 1992
- M.A., University of California at San Diego, 1996
- Ph.D., 2003
2024-2025 Academic Year
Fall 2024
FYSM 100 First-Year Seminar
The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces students to Dickinson as a "community of inquiry" by developing habits of mind essential to liberal learning. Through the study of a compelling issue or broad topic chosen by their faculty member, students will:
- Critically analyze information and ideas
- Examine issues from multiple perspectives
- Discuss, debate and defend ideas, including one's own views, with clarity and reason
- Develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information, and
- Create clear academic writing
The small group seminar format of this course promotes discussion and interaction among students and their professor. In addition, the professor serves as students' initial academic advisor. This course does not duplicate in content any other course in the curriculum and may not be used to fulfill any other graduation requirement.
EASN 206 Family & Society in East Asia
Families are our first world. They are our first introduction to the norms and expectations of society. Changes in society can dramatically impact families; changes in families can dramatically reshape society. This course explores the relationship between family and society change in East Asia in the modern era. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research, the course examines shifts in marriage and fertility patterns, approaches to education and child rearing, gender roles and expectations, as well as the care of older adults, primarily in China and Japan. We complement our consideration of social science texts with cinematic depictions of families grappling with the forces of fragmentation.