Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Japanese Studies
About
Michael J. Ioannides received a Ph.D. in anthropology from University of California Santa Barbara and an MA in applied anthropology from Oregon State University. His dissertation, “Infrastructures of Sovereignty: Rivers and the Politics of Temporality in Ainu Mosir,” ethnographically examined Ainu Indigenous activism in the context of ongoing Japanese settler colonialism in Hokkaido, focusing on contemporary Ainu communities’ longstanding relationships with local river watersheds. In addition to his research, Michael is a longtime contributor to AinuToday.com—the world’s first Ainu-led, English language platform for the dissemination of knowledge on contemporary Ainu art, scholarship, and activism—as well as a saxophonist and independent music producer who regularly collaborates with Ainu artists. Michael will spend the postdoctoral fellowship period revising his dissertation into a publishable manuscript and developing his next project, which focuses on the development of “green” infrastructure and data centers in Hokkaido and its impacts on the Ainu sovereignty and environmental restoration movements.
