Susan Pharr
Encyclopedia
Susan J. Pharr is an academic in the field of political science
, a Japanologist, and Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Director of Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
and the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University
. Her current research focuses on the changing nature of relations between citizens and states in Asia
, and on the forces that shape civil society over time.
In the spring of 2008, the Japan
ese government acknowledged Pharr's life's work by conferring the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon
, which represents the third highest of eight classes associated with this award. Accompanying the badge of the Order was a certificate explaining the award as recognition of the extent to which Prof. Pharr has "contributed to promoting intellectual exchange between Japan and the United States of America, and to guiding and nurturing young Japanologists."
. In 1966-67, she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow
. She earned her M.A.
(1970) and Ph.D.
(1975) in political science from Columbia University
, where she specialized in comparative politics with a focus on Japan.
Her interest in Japan was largely a matter of happenstance. As a first-year graduate student looking for recreation and a few self-defense skills for the streets of New York City
, she signed up for a judo
class that turned out to be made up almost entirely of Japanese black belt
s who were fellow Columbia students. Talking with her judo classmates and venturing in their company for sushi
piqued her interest sufficiently to spur her to take courses on Japanese society and politics with James William Morley, Herbert Passin, and, later on, Gerald Curtis
. In an intellectual world that was galvanized by the question of what made countries succeed or fail politically and economically, she found the study of Meiji
Japan riveting and soon made Japan the center of her doctoral work in comparative politics.
While completing her dissertation, she launched her career at the Social Science Research Council
in New York, where from 1974-76 she served as Staff Associate for its Japan Committee, a post later held, coincidentally, by her Reischauer Institute colleague Theodore C. Bestor
.
In 1977 she became an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1980. On leave from Wisconsin she spent 1983 in the Agency for International Development, where she was assigned responsibility for improving U.S.-Japan aid coordination, and two years, from 1985–87, as Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
Pharr joined the Harvard faculty in 1987. She has served as Director of Harvard's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations since 1987 and became Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics in 1991. From 1992-95 she served as chair of the Government Department. In 1995-96, she held the Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Studies. In 1996-98, she was as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She has been the Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
since 2004 through the present.
As an active participant in university life at Harvard, Dr. Pharr is on the Steering Committee of the Asia Center and on the Executive Committee of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. She serves on the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
, and is a member of the University Committee on the Environment and the University Committee on the Status of Women. She is also a Senior Scholar of the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies.
The impact of any one faculty member is hard to measure in a large multi-faceted institution like Harvard; and yet her name does crop up in a range of contexts. For example, when students proposed creating a student-run magazine about Japan, Prof. Pharr agreed to be a faculty advisor. As one of only 41 female tenured professors in the early 1990s, she could only acknowledge that "in many ways Harvard is very much a male institution," which makes her role in the University's Committee on Women all the more significant.
Professor Pharr is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
and has been a Fellow or Visiting Research Scholar at the Brookings Institution
, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
, the East West Center, University of Tokyo
, Sophia University
and Keio University
.
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Susan Pharr, OCLC
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 10+ works in 50+ publications in 4 languages and 3,000+ library holdings.
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, a Japanologist, and Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Director of Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University is a research center focusing on Japan. It provides a forum for stimulating scholarly and public interest....
and the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Her current research focuses on the changing nature of relations between citizens and states in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and on the forces that shape civil society over time.
In the spring of 2008, the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese government acknowledged Pharr's life's work by conferring the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...
, which represents the third highest of eight classes associated with this award. Accompanying the badge of the Order was a certificate explaining the award as recognition of the extent to which Prof. Pharr has "contributed to promoting intellectual exchange between Japan and the United States of America, and to guiding and nurturing young Japanologists."
Education and academic life
Susan Pharr received her B.A. (1966) with high honors from Emory UniversityEmory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
. In 1966-67, she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is a private non-profit foundation based in Princeton, New Jersey. It administers programs that support leadership development and build organizational capacity in education. Its current signature program is the...
. She earned her M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(1970) and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(1975) in political science from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where she specialized in comparative politics with a focus on Japan.
Her interest in Japan was largely a matter of happenstance. As a first-year graduate student looking for recreation and a few self-defense skills for the streets of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, she signed up for a judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
class that turned out to be made up almost entirely of Japanese black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
s who were fellow Columbia students. Talking with her judo classmates and venturing in their company for sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
piqued her interest sufficiently to spur her to take courses on Japanese society and politics with James William Morley, Herbert Passin, and, later on, Gerald Curtis
Gerald Curtis
Gerald L. Curtis is an American academic, a political scientist interested in comparative politics, Japanese politics and U.S.-Japan relations.-Columbia University:...
. In an intellectual world that was galvanized by the question of what made countries succeed or fail politically and economically, she found the study of Meiji
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
Japan riveting and soon made Japan the center of her doctoral work in comparative politics.
While completing her dissertation, she launched her career at the Social Science Research Council
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
in New York, where from 1974-76 she served as Staff Associate for its Japan Committee, a post later held, coincidentally, by her Reischauer Institute colleague Theodore C. Bestor
Theodore C. Bestor
Theodore C. Bestor is a Professor of Anthropology and Japanese Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Anthropology....
.
In 1977 she became an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1980. On leave from Wisconsin she spent 1983 in the Agency for International Development, where she was assigned responsibility for improving U.S.-Japan aid coordination, and two years, from 1985–87, as Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...
(CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
Pharr joined the Harvard faculty in 1987. She has served as Director of Harvard's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations since 1987 and became Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics in 1991. From 1992-95 she served as chair of the Government Department. In 1995-96, she held the Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Studies. In 1996-98, she was as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She has been the Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University is a research center focusing on Japan. It provides a forum for stimulating scholarly and public interest....
since 2004 through the present.
As an active participant in university life at Harvard, Dr. Pharr is on the Steering Committee of the Asia Center and on the Executive Committee of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. She serves on the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Hauser center for nonprofit organizations
The Harvard University Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, located in Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, promotes teaching, scholarship, and service to the nonprofit sector across the university. The Center's concerns include philanthropy, nonprofit organizations,...
, and is a member of the University Committee on the Environment and the University Committee on the Status of Women. She is also a Senior Scholar of the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies.
The impact of any one faculty member is hard to measure in a large multi-faceted institution like Harvard; and yet her name does crop up in a range of contexts. For example, when students proposed creating a student-run magazine about Japan, Prof. Pharr agreed to be a faculty advisor. As one of only 41 female tenured professors in the early 1990s, she could only acknowledge that "in many ways Harvard is very much a male institution," which makes her role in the University's Committee on Women all the more significant.
Professor Pharr is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
and has been a Fellow or Visiting Research Scholar at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
, the East West Center, University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, Sophia University
Sophia University
There are several rankings below related to Sophia University.-General Rankings:The university was ranked 61st in 2010 in the ranking Truly Strong Universities by Toyo Keizai...
and Keio University
Keio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
.
Fellowships and grants
- 1986-87—Principal Investigator for grants from Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development and Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission for international project on "Japan and the U.S. in Third World Development."
- 1986-88—Principal Investigator, grant from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission through the Social Science Research Council for bi-national project on "Media and Politics in Japan in Comparative Perspective."
- 1990-96—Principal Investigator for grant to the Harvard Program on U.S.-Japan Relations from Akiyama Aiseikan Corporation for research on "Japan and the Third World."
- 1994-97—Grant from the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation for project on "Yen for the Earth: Japan's China Environment Initiative."
- 1995-97—Co-Principal Investigator for grant from the Mellon Foundation on "The Performance of Democracies."
- 1996—Fellow of the Abe Fellowship Program, Social Science Research CouncilSocial Science Research CouncilThe Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
, for project on "Political Ethics and Public Trust in Japan, Italy, and the United States." - 1996-98—Co-principal Investigator for grant from the National Science FoundationNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
for a binational Japan-U.S. project on "Japan's Political Reform: Electoral Institution Change and Political Culture." - 1996-99—Member, Steering Committee, for project on "Social Capital, Democracy, and Public Affairs," administered by the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and funded by grants from the Ford FoundationFord FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, and the Carnegie FoundationCarnegie Corporation of New YorkCarnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...
. - 1997-98—Invitee to the Rockefeller Study Center, BellagioBellagioBellagio is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located on Lake Como. It has long been famous for its setting at the intersection of the three branches of the Y-shaped lake, which is also known as Lario....
, Italy, as co-organizer (with Robert D. Putnam) of a conference, June 29-July 3, 1998, on "Public Trust and Governance in the Trilateral Democracies." - 1999 -- (Summer) Posco FellowPOSCOPOSCO is a multinational steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It is the world's third-largest steelmaker by market value and the most profitable Asia-based steelmaker....
, Research Program, East-West Center. - 2000-02—Principal Investigator, Grants from the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission and the Center for Global Partnership for a project on "Civil Society in Japan," the first stage of a three-year project joint with the East-West CenterEast-West CenterThe East–West Center , headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific and the United States....
, and in cooperation with Keio UniversityKeio University,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
, on "Civil Society in the Asia-Pacific."
Selected works
Much of Prof. Pharr's research has explored the social basis for democracy in Japan. Her research interests include comparative political behavior; comparative politics of industrialized nations; democratization and political development in Japan and Asia; civil society and nonprofit organizations; political ethics and corruption; environmental politics; the role of the media in politics; U.S.-Japan relations; Japanese politics; and international relations in East Asia.In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Susan Pharr, OCLC
OCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 10+ works in 50+ publications in 4 languages and 3,000+ library holdings.
- Political Women in Japan (1981)
- Nihon no josei katsudo-ka (1989)
- Losing Face: Status Politics in Japan (1990)
- Media and Politics in Japan (1996), with Ellis S. Krauss
- Disaffected Democracies: What's Troubling Democracies? (2000), with Robert D. Putnam
- The State of Civil Society in Japan (2003), with Frank J. Schwartz
Further reading
- Gewertz, Ken. "History of the Japanese at Harvard: When Jewish and black students were excluded, Japanese students were accepted into final clubs and other exclusive societies," Harvard Gazette. February 26, 2004.
- Gewertz, Ken. "Looking at Germany, Japan, Iraq: A tale of three occupations; U.S. 'occupations' compared by panel," Harvard Gazette. March 18, 2004.
- Pharr, Susan. "Forum: In the Eye of the Storm For Japan, a "lost decade"--and after," Harvard Magazine. November–December 2001.
- Walker, Ruth. "‘Asia: The Next Ten Years:’ Report from conference marking 10 years of Harvard’s Asia Center," Harvard Gazette. May 8, 2008.
See also
- TonarigumiTonarigumiThe was the smallest unit of the national mobilization program established by the Japanese government in World War II. It consisted of units consisting of 10-15 households organized for fire fighting, civil defense and internal security. -History & Development:...