Dear Colleagues,
We're sad to announce that Kiyo Tsutsui will be stepping down as the Director of the Donia Human Rights Center and leaving University of Michigan on June 30th. We had an amazing 7-year run in establishing the Center: from initiative to program to endowed Center! From two lectures per semester to a full lecture series, distinguished lectures in human rights, and a MLK Jr. Day annual lecture; from no support for students to four outstanding fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students with partners in the U.S. and abroad.
We'd like to thank Kiyo for his great leadership, energy, enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, care and support to us over the years. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with Kiyo!
On a personal note, I started working with Kiyo in January 2013. We managed the Human Rights Initiative on a shoe-string budget and developed a very successful program which became an endowed center in 2016. The successful endowment of the Donia Human Rights Center was a highlight of my career at the University of Michigan, as it opened new opportunities for students who wish to study human rights. (From Nataša)
This is a farewell and not a goodbye, so Kiyo, please stop by when you visit Ann Arbor in the future, we would love to see you! Good luck and we wish you many successes at Stanford University!
Thank you for everything!
Sincerely,
Nataša, Bryna and Gabrielle
About:
Kiyoteru Tsutsui is Professor of Sociology, Director of the Donia Human Rights Center and Director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research interests lie in political/comparative sociology, social movements, globalization, human rights, and Japanese society. More specifically, he has conducted (1) cross-national quantitative analyses on how human rights ideas and instruments have expanded globally and impacted local politics and (2) qualitative case studies of the impact of global human rights on Japanese politics. His current projects examine (a) changing conceptions of nationhood and minority rights in national constitutions and their impact on actual practices, (b) global expansion of corporate social responsibility and its impact on corporate behavior, (c) experimental surveys on public understanding about human rights, and (d) campus policies and practices around human rights.
His research on globalization of human rights and its impact on local politics has appeared in American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Problems, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and other social science journals. His book publications include "Rights Make Might: Global Human Rights and Minority Social Movements in Japan" (Oxford University Press 2018), and a co-edited volume (with Alwyn Lim) "Corporate Social Responsibility in a Globalizing World" (Cambridge University Press 2015). He has been a recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, National Science Foundation grants, the SSRC/CGP Abe Fellowship, Stanford Japan Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship, and other grants as well as awards from American Sociological Association sections on Global and Transnational Sociology (2010, 2013, 2019), Human Rights (2017, 2019), Asia and Asian America (2018, 2019), Collective Behavior and Social Movements (2018), and Political Sociology (2019).
