Professional Positions and Affiliations

Aaron L. Miller

+1 (925) 588-6014

www.aaronlmiller.com

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS AND AFFILIATIONS

Annual Lecturer, California State University, East Bay (Department of Kinesiology)

Visiting Scholar, Stanford University (Center on Adolescence)

KEY STRENGTHS

Creative, punctual problem-solver

Critical, holistic thinker

Uplifting, dependable partner

VIRTUAL PRESENCE

Professional Website

Kyoto University Profile

Stanford University Profile

FIELDS OF RESEARCH AND EXPERTISE

Socio-cultural anthropology (especially, in the USA and Japan)

Sports coaching pedagogy, sports management and leadership (especially, in the USA and Japan)

Socialization, enculturation, and human development (especially, in the USA and Japan)

College sports and higher education (especially, in the USA and Japan)

Education, sports, society, culture, and language (especially, in the USA and Japan)

Race, ethnicity, and cultural identity (especially in Japan)

Corporal punishment and discipline (especially in Japan)

Cross-cultural business management (especially, in the USA and Japan)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Anthropology Association, Anthropology of Japan in Japan, Association of Asian Studies, British Association of Japanese Studies, Comparative and International Education Society, European Association of Japanese Studies, International Sports Sociology Association, Japan Society of Northern California, Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Annual Lecturer: California State University, East Bay (Department of Kinesiology), September 2015-present

Teaching in-person and online classes in sociology/anthropology of sport, history of sport and physical education, and sports in film

Fall 2015 Classes: KIN 3200: Sports in Film: Cultural Perspectives; KIN 3700 (ONLINE) History of Sports/PE; KIN 3750 Sports in Contemporary Society

Assistant Professor and Hakubi Scholar: Kyoto University (Graduate School of Education and Hakubi Center for Advanced Research), April 2010-March 2015

Research professorship exploring the relationships between power, culture, violence, sports and education

One of nineteen researchers selected from a pool of 588 international applicants for inaugural cohort of five-year faculty development program called the “Hakubi Project”.

Classes: 1) Sports, education and society (2012, Graduate School of Education), 2) Sports and education in the US and Japan (2013, Open enrollment)

Committees: Member of the Hakubi Project publications working group

Victor Kobayashi, Professor Emeritus at University of Hawaii at Manoa: “Aaron has a curious and open mind and is excellent scholar, with a lively personality to boot. He stimulates and inspires others into thinking about matters that may seem unimportant at first. He has outward, yet modest, and I strongly recommend Aaron.”

Visiting Scholar: Stanford University (Center on Adolescence), November 2010-present

Working with Professor William Damon, educator and psychologist specializing in human development, moral formation, character and youth purpose. Exploring the relationships between college sports and higher education in the US.

Cultural Advisor/Translator: Tesla Motors, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, October 2011-present (part-time, as needed)

Advising human resources department regarding Japanese business culture; Assisting strategy consulting regarding long-term Japanese talent acquisition and retention; Recruitment and localization of Japanese employees to Tokyo and San Francisco Bay Area; Translation and interpretation.

Tiffany Raymond Howell, Senior Manager, Leadership Recruiting, Tesla Motors, Inc: “Aaron has been key in helping us recruit and assimilate many of our employees from Japan. He's smart, funny and great to work with. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Aaron anytime.”

Board of Advisors/ Strategy Consultant: Leading2Play, Pinole, CA, June 2013-present (part-time, as needed)

Advising non-profit startup seeking to give underserved American youth greater access to athletic and leadership opportunities that are fun, inclusive, and healthy. Program content development and start-up strategy consulting.

Dr. George Selleck, Founder of Leading2Play: “Dr. Aaron L. Miller has been an invaluable part of the Leading2Play program from its inception. In addition to his tireless service on the Board of Advisors, he has been instrumental in the overall design and strategy of the program and has also lent his expert skills to the research and writing of many of our program documents.”

Expert Reviewer (for Grants), March 2014-present (part-time, as needed): John Templeton Foundation.

Peer Reviewer (for Academic Books), February 2013-present (part-time, as needed, volunteer)

Palgrave Macmillan.

Peer Reviewer (for Academic Journals): July 2012-present (part-time, as needed, volunteer)

Journal of Sport and Social Issues; Japanese Studies, Japan Forum

Volunteer Event Coordinator: Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies Alumni Association of the Bay Area, April 2014-present

Co-investigator (Government Report): December 2011-February 2012

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan five-nation international comparative project on injury prevention programs in youth sports (Principal investigator for USA study). Final English report entitled, “Youth Sports Injury Prevention: Suggestions from the US for Japan”. Available online. Japanese version also available online.

Observational Fieldworker: “S” University Women’s Basketball Team (USA), October 2010-April 2011; “M” University Women’s Basketball Team (Japan), January 2008-January 2009; Japan Sports Association, April 2008-July 2008

Facilitator: Japan Olympic Committee’s National Coach Academy, National Training Center, Tokyo, June 2010

Assistant to National Team Head Coaches in various sports and to members of the Japan Olympic Committee

Research Associate: Waseda University, Center for International Education, Tokyo, Japan, November 2009-March 2010

Japanese/English Translator: University of Tokyo, Institute of Social Science, April 2008-March 2010

Adjunct Lecturer: Sophia University Junior College, Tokyo, Japan, April 2008-March 2009

English Teacher: JET (Japan Exchange in Teaching) Programme, Mima Village, Shikoku, Japan July 2002-July 2004.

EDUCATION

10/17/06 to 10/23/09 University of Oxford

DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy) in Socio-cultural anthropology

Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Nissan Institute for Modern Japanese Studies and Linacre College

Dissertation Title: “Bushido vs. Science: Beyond Conflicting Pedagogies of Japanese Basketball Coaching”

Academic Supervisor: Professor Roger Goodman, Nissan Institute Professor of Modern Japanese Studies/Head of Social Sciences Division

Dissertation defended before external examiner Professor William Kelly (Yale University, Department of Anthropology) and internal examiner Professor Takehiko Kariya (Oxford University, Nissan Institute of Modern Japanese Studies)

Program Completed: October 23, 2009

Official Degree Conferred: July 16, 2011

04/01/07 to 3/31/09 University of Tokyo

Faculty of Education

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT) Research Student Fellowship

09/01/06 to 06/15/07 Stanford University

Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, Yokohama, Japan

Completed ten-month, intensive, advanced Japanese language study program

Awarded “Hayase Moriyama Saito Prize for Excellence in Japanese”

10/01/05 to 10/17/06 University of Oxford

MSc (Masters of Science) in Socio-cultural anthropology

Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Nissan Institute for Modern Japanese Studies and Linacre College

Thesis Title: “Taibatsu: Corporal Punishment on Japanese High School Baseball Teams”

Academic Supervisor: Professor Robert Barnes

Graduated with “Distinction” (Highest honors awarded in a UK university)

10/01/00 to 06/15/01 London School of Economics and Political Science

General Course (Junior Year Abroad Program)

Graduated Program with ‘First-Class’ Marks

09/01/98 to 06/15/02 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Political theory

Department of Political Science

Graduated with Honors (cum laude)

BOOKS

Single-authored Memoir: Walking With Sasaki (Manuscript completed; Currently being shopped to trade paperback publishers)

Single-authored Book: Expecting Greatness: Towards a New Model of Balance in American College Sports and Higher Education (Currently writing)

Single-authored Book: From Spirit to Science: On Japaneseness in Japanese Sports (Accepted for publication at the State University of New York (SUNY) Press; Currently editing)

Single-authored Book: Discourses of Discipline: An Anthropology of ‘Corporal Punishment’ in Japan’s Schools and Sports, Institute for East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, (Japan Research Monograph Series), Published August 1, 2013. (Available via the publisher OR via Amazon.com) (Miller 2013h)

BOOK REVIEWS

Corporal punishment of children by teachers and coaches is a widespread practice in many countries, but especially in Japan, where it has become a front-page issue involving Olympic athletes. Miller explores this issue both historically and in contemporary practices and analyzes how various discourses regarding disciplinary actions have shaped Japanese understandings of their ‘educational reality.’ To understand this phenomenon, Miller rejects Ruth Benedict’s culturalist theory and, instead, places physical discipline (taibatsu) in the contect of Michel Foucault’s theory of violence and power, offering an incisive analysis of a complex issue.

---Harumi Befu, professor emeritus, Stanford University

An intriguing and well-written analysis on molding character in Japanese schools and sports through the widespread use of corporal punishment. Miller frames his discussion in the contexts of Japanese cultural ideals about discipline, toughness, and self-improvement, as well as in Japanese perceptions of such forms of discipline as something uniquely Japanese. This book is an important contribution to understanding the social and cultural dynamics of core institutions in contemporary Japan.

---Theodore C. Bestor, Harvard University

Corporal punishment as a discipline of pain and an abuse of adult authority is a troubling presence in Japanese classrooms and sports fields. This is an insightful and wide-ranging analysis that overturns simple judgments with a nuanced exploration of the historical development, sociocultural locations, and heated national discourse on corporal punishment in modern Japan. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of Japanese education and sports, and it is an original anthropological perspective on how we might theorize power in Japanese society.

---William W. Kelly, Yale University

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

Single-authored Journal Article: “Foucauldian Theory and the Making of the Japanese Sporting Body,” Contemporary Japan 27(1): 13-31, 2015. (Peer Review). (Miller 2015a)

Co-authored Book Chapter (with Atsushi Nakazawa): “Youth Sport in Japan”, In Smith, Andy, and Ken Green (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Youth Sport, London: Routledge, Forthcoming.

Single-authored Book Chapter: “Punished Corporal Bodies”, In Andrews, David, Michael Silk, and Holly Thorpe (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Physical Cultural Studies, Routledge: Forthcoming.

Single-authored Essay: “Does the Legend of the Japanese Samurai Match Up with Historical Reality?”, In ABC-CLIO/Praeger Publishing, Academic Solutions Database for World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras (from prehistory to 1500 CE), Author Publisher: Forthcoming.

Single-authored Essay: (in Japanese) “Kyouiku, supotsu ni okeru taibatsu to nihon shakai” (Japanese society and corporal punishment in schools and sports), Keio University Alumni Magazine, Mita Hyouron. April 2014. Available Online. (Miller 2014b)

First-authored Book Chapter (with Atsushi Nakazawa): “Who Safeguards the Child in Japanese Sports”, In Lang, Melanie and Mike Hartill (eds.), Safeguarding, Child Protection and Abuse in Sport: International Perspectives in Research, Policy and Practice, London: Routledge: 2014. Available Online. (Miller 2014a)

Single-authored Book Review: Park, Hyunjoon. 2013. Re-evaluating Education in Japan and Korea: Demystifying Stereotypes, Abingdon (UK), and New York: Routledge. The American Journal of Education. (Miller 2013i)

Co-authored Journal Article (with Fumio Tsukahara): “Tokushuu: Taibatsu to kenryoku,” (Special Issue: Corporal Punishment and Power), Taiiku no kagaku [The Science of Physical Education] 2013: 63(10): 1-15. Available Online. (Peer Review). (Miller 2013g)

Single-authored Journal Article: “For Basketball Court and Company Cubicle: New Expectations for University Athletes and Corporate Employees in Japan,” Japanese Studies 33(1): 63-81, 2013. Available Online. (Peer Review) (Miller 2013c)

Single-authored Encyclopedia Entries: “Zen Buddhism in Japanese Sports,” “Bushido in Japanese Sports” and “Nitobe Inazo”, In Japan at War, Edited by Louis Perez, ABC-CLIO: January 2013, Available Online. (Miller 2013b)

Single-authored Encyclopedia Entry: “Sports”, In Stanton, Andrew L. and Edward Ramsamy, eds. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Africa and Asia: Volume III (Encyclopedia), London: Sage, 2012, pp. 371-372, Available Online. (Miller 2012a)

Single-authored Book Chapter: “Taibatsu:From educational solution to social problem to marginalized non-issue” In Goodman, Roger, Imoto, Yuki and Tuukka Toivonen (eds.). A Sociology of Japanese Youth: From Returnees to NEETs. London: Routledge (UK), Nissan Institute Japanese Studies Series, 2011, pp. 81-97. Available Online. (Miller 2011c)

BOOK REVIEW

Professor Jeff Kingston in the Japan Times (Sunday, May 20, 2012): “This superb collection of essays presents a social constructionist analysis of why youth problems erupt when they do and how they evolve. This is an exceptionally well-written book that is destined to become a classic in Japanese studies and is a truly collaborative effort that benefits from a high degree of dialogue between the authors.”

Single-authored Journal Article: “From Bushido to Science: A New Pedagogy of Japanese Sports Coaching,” Japan Forum 23(3): 385-406, 2011. Available Online. (Peer Review). (Miller 2011b)

Single-authored Book Chapter: “Beyond the Four Walls of the Classroom: ‘Real’ and ‘Imagined’ Change in Japanese Sports and Education,” In Willis, David and Jeremy Rappleye (eds.) Reimagining Japanese Education: Borders, Transfers, Circulations and the Comparative, Oxford, UK: Symposium Books/Oxford Studies in Comparative Education, 2011, pp. 171-191. Available Online. (Miller 2011a)

CHAPTER REVIEW

Professor Damien J. Rivers in the Australian Universities’ Review (vol. 53, no. 2, 2011): “[Miller’s chapter is] written with an impressive level of depth and explores processes within Japanese sports policy from a range of stimulating perspectives…immensely stimulating.”

First-authored Journal Article: “To Discipline or Accommodate? On the Rehabilitation of Japanese ‘Problem Youth’”, with Tuukka Toivonen, Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal, June 2010, Available Online. (Peer Review). (Miller 2010)

Single-authored Journal Article: “Taibatsu ni kansuru kokusaiteki dōkō” (International Trends Regarding Corporal Punishment), Written in Japanese for special issue of the Japan Sports Association’s Quarterly Magazine, Sports Journal, Winter 2009, Volume 282, pp. 14-15. (Peer Review). (Miller 2009b)

Single-authored Journal Article: “Taibatsu: ‘Corporal Punishment’ in Japanese Socio-cultural Context,” Japan Forum 2009: 21(2): 233-254, Available Online. (Peer Review). (Miller 2009a)

Single-authored Film Review: “Kōkōyakyu: (High School Baseball)”, Visual Anthropology Review, 2007: 23(2): 167-168, Available Online. (Peer Review). (Miller 2007)

TRANSLATIONS

Translated Book: An Era of Misrepresentations, by the Sankei News (in press).

Co-translated Book (with Dr. Jeremy Rappelye): Education in Crisis and Stratified Japan, by Professor Kariya Takehiko, London: Routledge, 2012. Available Online.

Co-translated Book: A Bilingual Dictionary of Japanese Culture (Eigo de shōkai suru nihon jiten), (General Editor: Horiguchi Sachiko, with Nakajima Mizuki and Tsuchiya Nozomu), Tokyo: Natsumesha, January 2010, (2nd Edition: 2011), Available Online.

Translated Conference Presentation: “Omoide Kyōdōtai: Jogakusei no Yuujō” (“Communities of Nostalgia: Friendship among Girls’ School Students”) by Inagaki Kyoko (Professor, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Education), Delivered to international conference entitled, “Conceptualising Friendship”, Leiden University, September 2010.