Sophia Open Research Week Symposium 

Visuals, Digital research, and Life Narratives in Urban and Rural Japan 

This panel explores the evolving methodological and conceptual approaches to studying migration, memory, and everyday life in both urban and rural Japan. In addition to traditional ethnographic tools, the speakers draw on a range of contemporary methods of research--from visual storytelling and digital ethnography to filmed interviews, disaster narratives, and longitudinal fieldwork--to investigate how migrants articulate their experiences, challenges, and aspirations. 

Together, the panel interrogates how methodological innovation--visual, digital, and otherwise--can more effectively capture the fluid, intersectional, and often invisible dimensions of migrant life. It also reflects on the ethical and analytical implications of representing memory, identity, and social change across diverse geographic and socio-political contexts in Japan and beyond. 

Organizer: 
Megha Wadhwa, Assistant Professor, Department of English Studies/ICC Sophia University 

Speakers 

Megha Wadhwa, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Sophia University - Documenting Transnational Belonging: Indian Migrants Through Hybrid Ethnographic Tools 
Julia Gerster, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Tohoku University - Depicting marginalized voices in disaster preparedness 
Dukin Lim, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nanzan University - Tracing Four Decades of Change Through Oral Histories: Skilled Korean Women's Migration to Japan 
Ruth Achenbach, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Goethe University - Moments That Matter: Using Audiovisual Interviews and Video Diaries to Trace Migrant Temporalities  

Discussant 
David H. Slater, Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University 

BLOG: Visuals, Digital research, and Life Narratives in Urban and Rural Japan

PDF: 487f91_394b6afa907f4cb1b826fdc97df481ae.pdf