Prof. Nissim Otmazgin is the Chair of the Department of East Asian Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Associate Director of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. He is the author of Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2013) and co-author (together with Miki Daliot-Bul) of The Anime Boom in the US: Lessons for Global Creative Industries (Harvard University Asia Center Press, 2017). He is also co-editor (together with Eyal Ben-Ari) of Popular Culture and the State in East and Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2011) and Popular Culture Co-production and Collaboration in East and Southeast Asia (National University of Singapore Press, 2012). He also edited (together with Sigal Galanti and Alon Levcowitz) Japanese Democracy: A Multilayered Approach (Lexington Books, 2014), and more recently (together with Rebecca Suter) Stories for the Nation: Rewriting History in Manga (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2015). He has published articles in a number of international academic journals including International Relations of the Asia Pacific, Cross-Currents, Media, Culture & Society, Inter-Asia Cultural studies, Pacific Affairs, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Asia-Pacific Review, Media, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, and Contemporary Japan.
Email: nissim.otmazgin@mail.huji.ac.il
FELLOWSHIPS
July-September 2017 Visiting Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
January-February 2017 Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Graduate School of Language and Culture, Osaka University
July 2016 – January 2017 Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University
June-September 2015 Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Korea University
February 2015 Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Graduate School of Language and Culture, Osaka University
June-September 2014 Visiting Fellow, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo
March-September 2013 Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Policy Studies, Dōshisha University, Kyoto
July-August 2012 Visiting Scholar, School of Culture and Languages, University of Sydney
October 2011 Visiting Scholar, Department of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore
July-August 2011 Visiting Scholar, East Asia Program, Cornell University
February-March 2010 Research Fellow, Center for International Studies and Research, Sciences Po, Paris
June-September 2009 Visiting Scholar, East Asia Program, Cornell University
April-September 2007 Research Affiliate, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
HIGHER EDUCATION
2007-2008: Postdoctoral Fellow, The Louis Frieberg Center For East Asian Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2002-2007: Ph. D. Candidate, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University. Ph.D. conferred in March 2007.
1997-2000: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bachelor Degree (cum laude) in East Asian Studies and Political Science.
1996-1997: Tōyō Language School, Tokyo, Japanese Language Studies.
APPOINTMENTS AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY
November 2014 – Present Chair of the Dept. of Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
March 2017 – Present Acting Director, Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
June 2017 – Present Professor, Dept. of Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
April 2013 – May 2017 Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), Dept. of Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
July 2008 - March 2013 Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Dept. of Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dec. 2017 – Feb. 2017 Research Affiliate, Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
October 2007 – June 2008 Postdoctoral Fellow, the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS/TASKS AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY
October 2012-Present Chair of Academic Committee, The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies
July 2011-Present Member of the Academic Committee, The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies.
March 2013-Present Member of the Computer Committee, Faculty of Humanities
October 2009-2012 Asia Unit Coordinator, The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace.
RESEARCH AWARDS
2016 – 2017 Truman Institute funded project on the Political Economy of Cultural Co-productions in East Asia
2015 Korea Foundation fellowship for the project Korea Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy in the Middle East
2010-2013 Israel Science Foundation (ISF) funded project the Global Economy of Trans-cultural Productions (NIS 150,000 X3 years).
October 2012 Professor Yoram Ben-Porat Presidential Award for Outstanding Young Researcher.
2008 – 2012 Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant, EU,: Popular Culture and Regionalization in East Asia (Euro100,000)
October 2007 The Sixth Iue Asia-Pacific Research Prize for Outstanding PhD Dissertation.
ACADEMIC INITIATIVES (past 5 years)
Organizer (together with Prof. Kawashima Nobuko) of the workshop "Comparatively Speaking: Creativity and Innovativeness in the Media and Cultural Industries," January 6-7, 2017, Dōshisha University, Kyoto, Faculty of Economy.
Organizer (together with Dr. Orna Naftali and Dr. Jooyeon Rhee) of the conference "Middle Classes in East Asia's Global Cities: Spaces, Communities, and Lifestyles," June 21-23, 2016, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Prof. Verene Blechinger and Dr. Kai Shulze) of the workshop Globalizing Rivalry? Sino-Japanese Interaction, held in November 12-13, 2015, the Free University of Berlin.
Organizer (together with Dr. Rhee Jooyeon) of the international conference Transnational Cultural Interactions between Korea and Japan, From the Pre-modern to Colonial Period, held in May 17-19, 2015, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Dr. Galia Press-Barnathan) of an international conference Popular Culture and International Conflicts: Management, Entrenchment, Resolution and Reconciliation, March 15-16, 2015, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Prof. Sugita Yonekuki, Osaka University), of an international symposium on Military Occupation in Comparative Perspective, February 16, 2015, Osaka University.
Organizer of a Joint Korean-Israeli workshop (with collaboration with Korea University) on Cultural Diplomacy and Soft Power, November 25, 2015, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Dr. Jooyeon Rhee and Irina Lyan) of the international conference Cultural Geography of the Hallyu: Mapping the World through Korean Popular Culture, May 12-15, 2014, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Dr. Helena Grinshpun) of an International workshop titled Travelling Food and Beverages: In and Out of Japan, November 3-5, 2013, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Ira Lyan) the International Conference The 'Miracle' Narrative of the Korean Cultural Industries: Perspectives from the Middle East, May 7-9, 2013, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Organizer (together with Dr. Rebecca Suter, University of Sydney) of an International Symposium Rewriting History in Manga: A New Medium for Political Debate?17 August, 2012, the University of Sydney.
Member of the Editorial Board in Academic Journals
Asian Communication Research https://www.comm.or.kr/EJournal/Home/Index/3
Asiascape: Digital Asia http://www.brill.com/products/journal/asiascape
Innovative Research in Japanese Studies http://www.irjs.org
Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia http://eastasia.yu.ac.kr/index.html
Mutual Images http://mutualimages.org
Referee
I have reviewed papers for the following journals and publishers: International Relations of the Asia Pacific, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, Asian Politics & Policy, Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, Cultural Studies Review, Telos, Korea Journal, Innovative Research in Japanese Studies, University of Illinois Press, and Routledge.