Mikael "Mickey" Adolphson (born March 10, 1961) is a Swedish historian of medieval Japan. Adolphson is the Keidanren Professor of Japanese Studies at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
.
Early life
Brought up in
Kalmar
Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
, Sweden, Adolphson was from a young age inspired to become a historian, influenced by the medieval
Kalmar Castle
Kalmar Castle ( sv, Kalmar slott) is a castle in the city Kalmar in the province of Småland in Sweden.
History
During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteen ...
and the many Iron Age and Viking remains on the island of
Öland
Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Site retrieved 2016-9-1.
Education
After graduating from high school in Kalmar the late 1970s, he graduated with a B.A. in History, Museum and Cultural Studies in 1985 from
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion Stockholm University before receiving a scholarship from the Japanese Education Ministry in 1986.
During the next two and a half years he lived in Kyoto and Osaka while studying at Kyoto University under the guidance of Professor Oyama Kyohei. During that time, he also coached volleyball at Osaka University of Foreign Studies and later at Kyoto University. Upon returning to Sweden, he became the head coach of the KFUM Göteborg women’s team, which took fifth place in the Elite League, in addition to winning several tournaments.
In 1989, he entered Stanford University's Ph.D. program with Professor
Jeffrey Mass
Jeffrey Paul Mass (June 29, 1940 – March 30, 2001) was an American academic, historian, author and Japanologist. He was Yamato Ichihashi Professor of Japanese History at Stanford University.Sanford, John "Jeffrey Mass, a leading authority on J ...
as his mentor. Returning to Kyoto University in the spring of 1992 for dissertation research, he also worked for the Japan Volleyball Association as an interpreter. He resumed at Stanford in the fall of 1993 and finished his dissertation two years later.
Career
Adolphson’s first academic appointment was at the
University of Oklahoma
, mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State"
, type = Public research university
, established =
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.7billion (2021)
, pr ...
from 1995 to 1999, and then
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, where he was assistant and associate professor of Japanese History. In 2008 he joined the faculty at the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...
as Professor of Japanese Cultural Studies, and served as chair of the Department of East Asian Studies and associate dean in the Faculty of Arts. As associate dean, he founded the first pedagogical research unit for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, named th Arts Pedagogy Research and Innovation Laboratory where one of his project-based courses is featured. Adolphson has been Keidanren Professor of Japanese Studies at Cambridge since January 2016; the post was held previously by
Richard Bowring
Richard John Bowring (born 6 February 1947) is an English academic serving as Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Fellow of Downing College. In 2013, Bowring was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Cla ...
and
Peter Kornicki
Peter Francis Kornicki (born 1 May 1950) FBA is an English Japanologist. He is Emeritus Professor of Japanese at Cambridge University and Emeritus Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge.
Kornicki was born at Maidenhead on 1 May 1950, the eldest s ...
. During hi inaugural lecture at Cambridge in October 2016, Adolphson announced the launching of a new vision for Japanese Studies at Cambridge, entitle Japan and the World In March 2020, he co-founded the Japan Global Research Center in Tokyo, which aims to connect Japanese and Cambridge researchers through large and collaborative projects. Adolphson is a Fellow and Special Advisor at the
Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study
Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) is an institute for advanced study in Uppsala, Sweden. It is one of the ten member institutions of the Some Institutes for Advanced Study consortium, which brings together the world's most distinguished ...
Edward Kamens
Edward Kamens (born 19 April 1952) is Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Literature at Yale University, where he has taught since 1986. His dissertation focused on the Buddhist setsuwa collection Sanbōe, and more recently he has written on allusiv ...