AOYAMA, WAka, Professor

Reseach Topics

 

Research Theme : Economy and Ethnics (Care) in Insular Southeast Asia

Waka Aoyama is a Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo, Japan. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tokyo, and is the author of An Ethnography of Poverty: Socioeconomic Life of Five Sama Families in Davao City, Philippines. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press (2006, written in Japanese); and An Intimate Journey: Finding Myself Amongst the Sama-Bajau, Kyoto University Press + Trans Pacific Press (2020, written in English). The first book earned academic awards including the 8th Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize. Her research interest is in understanding the interactions of institutions and agency in the adaptive process of cultural minorities to the globalized market society. She is also interested in economy and ethnics (care) in general. She has been making multiple visits to Christian Sama-Bajau communities in Davao City (Mindanao, the Philippines) since 1997. She also looks into organic farming and revitalization of local communities through collaborations with other scholars within and outside the University of Tokyo (comparative studies: the Philippines, Mexico and Japan)

Biography

1991.3

BA in Commerce, Keio University

1994.3

MA in Commerce, Keio University

1997-1999

Visiting Scholar, Institute of Philippine Culture, Ateneo de Manila University

2001.4

Research Associate, Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo

2002.10

Ph.D. in Economics, The University of Tokyo

2004.4

Assistant Professor, Wayo Women's College

2007.4

Associate Professor, Nihon University

2009.10

Assciate Professor Hokkaido University

2013-2014

Visiting Scholar, Harvard-Yenching Institute

2014.4

Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

2017.4

Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

2018-2020

Visiting Researcher, Joint-Ateneo Institute for Mindanao Economics, Ateneo de Davao University

Teaching

• ITASIA 101
  

Research Achivements

Books

• Waka, Aoyama. An Intimate Journey: Finding Myself Amongst the Sama-Bajau: Kyoto University Press + Trans Pacific Press, 2020.3.

Articles and Book Chapters

• Aoyama, Waka. "In Search of an Alternative Model of Living Together in the Globalized World: A Preliminary Study of an Organic Farm in Davao City, the Philippines." IPCR: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 2020.3 : 25.
• Aoyama, Waka. "Living in the City as Sama Bajau: The Case of Magsahaya’s Family."Harvard-Yenching Working Paper Series 2018.3. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "To Become 'Christian Bajau':Tha Sama Dilaut's to Pentecostal Christianity in Davao City, 1997-2005." Filipinas: Philippine Studies Association, Inc., 2017.12 : 109-131.
• Aoyama, Waka. "Living in the City as Sama Bajau: The Case of Kaluman’s Family."Harvard-Yenching Working Paper Series 2017.5. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Living a New Life as 'Christian Bajau'?"Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series 2017.4. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Living in the City as Sama Bajau: The Case of Papa Melcito’s Family."Harvard-Yenching Working Paper Series 2016.5. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Living in the City as the Sama-Bajau: A Case Study of Bilaiya’s Family."Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series 2016.3. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Creating Living Space against Social Exclusions: The Experience of the Sama-Bajau migrants in Davao City, Philippines."Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series 2016.1. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "To Become “Christian Bajau”: The Sama Dilaut’s Conversion to Pentecostal Christianity in Davao City, Philippines."Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series 2014.12. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Living in the City as the Sama-Bajau: A Case Study of Guwapo’s Family."Hakusan jinruigaku (Hakusan Journal of Anthropology) 17 2014.3: 31-58.
• Aoyama, Waka. "Social Inequality among Sama-Bajau Migrants in Urban Settlements : A Case from Davao City."Hakusan jinruigaku (Hakusan Journal of Anthropology), no. 15 2012.3: 7-44. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Neighbors to the “Poor” Bajau: An Oral Story of a Woman of the Cebuano Speaking Group in Davao City, the Philippines."Hakusan jinruigaku (Hakusan Journal of Anthropology) 13 2010.3: 3-33.

Conference Proceedings

• Aoyama, Waka. "A Reflection on Intimacy on My Book (An Intimate Journey: Finding Myself Amongst the Sama-Bajau)." Presented at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam-Univeristy of Tokyo (Tobunken) Academic Arrangements, Zoom, June 29 2021.
• Aoyama, Waka. "Japanese-Style of Fieldwork Involving Multiple Visits over a Long Period of Time: Empathy, Commitment, and Mutual Reflection." Presented at the Social Science Cluster, Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Davao University, Philippines, August 3 2019. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "The Life and Death of Papa Melbas: A Prelude to the Christian Conversion of the Sama Dilaut Migrants in Davao City, Philippines, in the late 1990s (2019 ver.)." Presented at the Social Science Cluster, Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Davao University, Philippines, July 15 2019. [Link]
• Aoyama, Waka. "Reflections on Several Decades of Entanglement: Exploring New Perspectives in Understanding the Philippines, Japan, and the Contemporary World." Presented at the 4th Philippine Studies Conference in Japan, Hiroshima University, November 17-18 2018.
• Aoyama, Waka. "Japanese-Style Fieldwork Involving Multiple Visits over a Long Period of Time: Empathy, Commitment, and Mutual Reflections." Presented at the Havrrd-Yenching Institute (HYI 90th Anniversary Alumni Conference), Jin Jiang Hotel, Shanghai, China, June 23 2018.
• Aoyama, Waka. "To Become “Christian Bajau”: The Sama Dilaut’s Conversion to Pentecostal Christianity in Davao City, Philippines, 1997-2005 (Religionization at Margins in Insular Southeast Asia: Introducing Recent Southeast Asian Studies in Japan)." Presented at the Asian Research Institute, National University of Singapore, March 20 2018.
• Aoyama, Waka. "On Personal Names: How Can We Respond to People Who Are Stigmatized?" Presented at the Harvard-U Tokyo Conference, January 2017.
• Aoyama, Waka. "To Become 'Christian Bajau": The Sama Dilaut's Conversion to Pentecostal Christianity in Davao City, Philippines." Presented at the 10th ICOPHIL Conference, Similan University, Philippines, July 2016.
• Aoyama, Waka. "Creating Living Space against Social Exclusions: The Experience of the Sama-Bajau in the Urban Philippines." Presented at the SEASIA Conference, Kyoto International Conference Center, December 2015.
• Aoyama, Waka. "What Do Disasters Reveal about the Society?: A Case Study of the Fire That Hit the Sama-Bajau Community in Davao City." Presented at the PSA (Philippine Studies Association), The National Museum of the Philippines, November 2014.

Award

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