Professor of History Renee Romano Selected for Cultural Exchange Residency in Japan

Beginning in late May, Professor of History, Comparative American Studies, and Africana Studies Renee Romano will spend several weeks visiting academic institutions in Japan through a residency awarded by the Organization of American Historians (OAH).

Romano is one of two U.S. historians selected by the OAH and the Japanese Association for American Studies to receive the 2019 residency on cultural history of the 20th century at Tohoku University. The residency was announced April 5 during the OAH annual meeting in Philadelphia. Her work is also supported by the Japan-United States Friendship Commission.

Romano specializes in modern American history, with research interests in the racial politics of post-WWII United States, African American history, civil rights, and historical memory. In 2018, she codirected the traveling exhibit Courage and Compassion: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American World War II Experience.

Romano will be in Japan May 29 through June 16. During her time there, she will give lectures on American history at the annual meeting of the Japanese American Studies Association in Tokyo, at Doshisha University in Kyoto, at Osaka University in Osaka, and at Tohoku University in Sendai.

“This residency is a wonderful opportunity for me to meet and engage with Japanese scholars who study U.S. history,” Romano says. “I’m excited to share my work with students and scholars there and to gain a deeper perspective on how America and its history are viewed in Japan. I’m also thrilled to have the opportunity to give talks at several different universities in different areas of the country and to do some sightseeing along the way.”

Romano is the author and coeditor of several books, including the 2018 anthology Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America’s Past. She serves on the executive board of the OAH and is an OAH Distinguished Lecturer. Founded in 1907, OAH is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to American history scholarship.