Sophie Wheeler, a Ph.D. student in the Department of East Asian Studies, who travelled to Japan.
Tell us about the research that you are conducting and how you benefited from the Fulbright program.
Sophie: I’m writing on Indigenous literature, specifically Ainu literature, and its relation with modern Japanese literature to answer two questions: How is Indigeneity understood and formed in the Japanese context? How do we read Ainu works through environmental humanities, and what are its limits? My time in Japan allowed me to work with scholars in Japanese and Ainu literature.