Dr. Ben Whaley
Positions
Associate Professor, Japanese
Faculty of Arts, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures
Undergraduate Advisor, Program, Japanese
Faculty of Arts, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures
Contact information
Web presence
Phone number
Office: 403.220.3482
Location
Office: CHD425
For media enquiries, contact
Dr. Ben Whaley <or> mediarequests@ucalgary.ca
Preferred method of communication
Available for contact by email and phone.
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Research partners
Dr. Whaley welcomes contact from scholars and students with overlapping research interests.
Background
Educational Background
B.A. (Honors) Japanese, Stanford University, 2007
M.A. Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, 2012
Ph.D. Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, 2016
Biography
Ben Whaley is Associate Professor of Japanese in the School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Calgary. His research examines identity and trauma in Japanese popular culture and modern Japanese literature. He is the author of Toward a Gameic World: New Rules of Engagement from Japanese Video Games (University of Michigan Press, 2023). His essays on manga and video games can be found in the Journal of Asian Studies, positions asia critique, and the Journal of Japanese Studies.
ベン・ウェーリーはカルガリー大学人文学部言語・言語学・文学・文化学科の准教授です。専門分野は戦後・現代日本文学と文化、主にマンガとビデオゲーム研究です。
Research
Areas of Research
Social anxieties and traumatic events as simulated in contemporary Japanese videogames.
The oeuvre of Japan’s “God of Manga” Tezuka Osamu. Ethno-racialization and narratives of the Holocaust in postwar manga (print comics).
Narratological analysis of modern Japanese literature of trauma by minority writers.
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| JPNS 423 | Advanced Manga Studies | Winter 2024 |
| EALS 501 | Advanced Research in Japanese Studies | Winter 2022 |
| JPNS 317.02 | Japanese Cinema | Fall 2021 |
| JPNS 325 | Japanese Videogames and Gaming Culture | Fall 2018 |
| JPNS 323 | Critical Approaches to Manga and Anime | Fall 2020 |
| JPNS 327 | Modern Japanese Literature in Translation | Winter 2021 |
| JPNS 201 | Introduction to Japanese Popular Culture | Fall 2021 |
Projects
This ongoing project is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Japan Foundation. It examines Jewish identities and narratives of the Holocaust in postwar manga.
This book unites Japanese popular culture studies and game studies by examining four contemporary Japanese video games in terms of how they engage with some of Japan’s biggest social anxieties and traumatic events. It is Volume 100 in the Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies by the University of Michigan Press.
Awards
- Outstanding Early Career Teacher Award, University of Calgary - Faculty of Arts. 2019
- Teaching Award for Full-Time Academic Staff (Nominated), University of Calgary. 2020
- Teaching Excellence Award (Nominated), University of Calgary - Students' Union. 2020
Publications
- Who Let the Dogs Out? Race as Illness in Tezuka Osamu’s Ode to Kirihito. The Journal of Japanese Studies. 37–63. (2024)
- When Anne Frank Met Astro Boy: Drawing the Holocaust through Manga. positions asia critique. 729–55. (2020)
- Virtual Earthquakes and Real-World Survival in Japan's Disaster Report Video Game. The Journal of Asian Studies. 95–114. (2019)
- Who Will Play Terebi Gēmu When No Japanese Children Remain? Distanced Engagement in Atlus’ Catherine. Games and Culture. 92-114. (2018)
- Doomed Hybrids: Three Cases of Fatal Mixing in the War Comics of Tezuka Osamu . International Journal of Comic Art. 244-57. (2014)
- Toward a Gameic World: New Rules of Engagement from Japanese Video Games. University of Michigan Press. 186 pages. (2023)
- A Jew and a Nazi Walk into an Izakaya: Tezuka Osamu's Holocaust Manga. Introducing Japanese Popular Culture, Second Edition. 289-99. (2023)
- Harmonized Dissonance: Parodies of Japan's America in EarthBound. Japanese Role-Playing Games: Genre, Representation, and Liminality in the JRPG. 119-38. (2022)
- Teaching Japanese Video Games: Practical Strategies for Analysis and Assessment. Teaching Games and Game Studies in the Literature Classroom. 91-99. (2022)
- What Tezuka would tell Trump: Critiquing Japanese Cultural Nationalism in Gringo. The Representation of Japanese Politics in Manga: The Visual Literacy of Statecraft. 162-82. (2021)
In the News
- Does Netflix's Avatar Prove That Good Live-Action Adaptations Are Impossible?. CBC News. (2024)
- Japanese Video Games and the Mediation of Trauma. The Japan Foundation, Toronto - Online Lecture. (2023)
- Toward a Gameic World: New Rules of Engagement from Japanese Video Games. New Books Network - New Books in Japanese Studies Podcast. (2023)
- Alumni Spotlight Interview. Stanford University Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. (2022)
- Calgary Cafe Offers Squid Game Challenge. CTV News. (2021)
- AAS Member Spotlight. Association for Asian Studies. (2018)
More Information
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