Esther Ladkau

University of Michigan Department of History

cladkau@umich.edu June 2020

EDUCATION
Ph.D., History, University of Michigan, expected 2021
Candidacy, Oct. 25, 2017

M.A., Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, August 2014

Concentrations: Premodern Japanese language and history; Museum studies

B.A., Japanese Language and Culture, Eastern Michigan University, December 2007
Major: Japanese Language and Culture; Minor: English Writing
Post-baccalaureate enrollment, History, 2011-2012

Language Certification - Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level N1, 2014

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University
Primary Instructor
• Dragons and Snow Monkeys: Encountering Spirits, Animals, and Monsters in Early Japan
(History 195); F 2019
Graduate Student Instructor
• Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society (History 285); W 2019
• What is History? (History 101); F 2017
• The Roman Empire and the Transformation of the Mediterranean World (History 201); W 2016
• East Asia: Early Transformations (History 204); F 2015, F 2016
Graduate Student Mentor
• Pedagogy I (History 808); W 2018, W 2019
• Pedagogy II (History 809); F 2016, F 2017, F 2018
Other
• Graduate Assistant, 2019-20; HistoryLab, “Environmental History of the Great Lakes,” (History
491)
• Practice Teaching Facilitator, 2019; Center for Research on Teaching and Learning, University
of Michigan
• Grader: Silences in UM History, 2017: From the Native American Lands to Campus Sexual
Assault (Sociology 295)
• Grader: Samurai in Films and Texts, 2014 (History 380)

K-12
• Japanese Language Coach; Curriculum Development, 2013-2014; North Carolina Virtual Public
Schools, Raleigh, NC
• Substitute Teacher, 2011-2013; Professional Educational Services Group, LLC., Southeastern
Michigan
• Assistant Language Teacher, 7-9 grades, 2009-2011; Sagan Speak, Tokyo, Japan
• Kindergarten Teacher, 2008-2009; GREGG International School, Tokyo, Japan

Other
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• English Conversation Teacher, 2008; GEOS Language Corporation, Chiba, Japan

INTERNSHIPS
2015-16 Intern, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
2015 Intern, National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, Japan

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECTS

2017 Research Assistant, University of Michigan History of Art, “1963: Pop Art Comes to
the University,” http://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/popart1963/

FELLOWSHIPS/GRANTS
2020-21 Rackham Humanities Dissertation Fellowship
2021-21 Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies Graduate Student Liaison
2020 Rackham Humanities Candidacy Fellowship
2019-20 Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies Fellow
2018 Sidney Fine Teaching Partnership
2018 University of Michigan History Department Candidacy Fellowship
2017 Exceptional History Department Fellowship
2016 Medieval and Early Modern Studies Summer Research Grant
2016 Rackham Graduate Research Grant
2015 Helmut Stern International Internship Award
2014-15 University of Michigan History Department First Year Fellowship
2013-14 Center for Japanese Studies Endowment Award, Academic Year
2013 Center for Japanese Studies Endowment Award, Summer
2013 Donald Drummond Outstanding Undergraduate Paper, Eastern Michigan
University, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies

GRADUATE CERTIFICATES
Graduate Teacher Certificate
Center for Research on Teaching and Learning
University of Michigan (pending)

Medieval and Early Modern Studies

University of Michigan (pending)

Museum Studies Program

University of Michigan (Received 2020)

Science and Technology Studies

University of Michigan (in progress)

CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS

• “A House Aflame: Displacement, Hunger, and Relief during the Kanshō Famine,” Travel is
Home: Travel and Landscape in Japanese Literature, Art, and Culture, University of Iowa, April
6, 2019
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• “A House Aflame: Displacement, Hunger, and Relief during the Kanshō Famine,” Forum on
Research in Medieval Studies, University of Michigan, March 13, 2019
• “Kyoto in Crisis: Famine and Relief in 1459-61,” Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies
Friday Workshop, University of Michigan, November 30, 2018
• “Ghosts of the Kamo River: Environmental, Spiritual, and Urban Dimensions of the Medieval
Kyoto Basin,” Cambridge History of Japan Workshop, University of Michigan, October 20,
2018
• “Hungry People, Hungry Ghosts,” Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies Friday Workshop,
University of Michigan, December 1, 2017
• “Translating the Museum: Multicultural Accessibility at the National Museum of Japanese
History,” University of Michigan Museum of Art, University of Michigan, November 20, 2015
• “Kokuritsu Rekishi Minzoku Hakubutsukan ni okeru akusesabiritī…gaikokujin kenkyūsha no
tachiba kara, Accessibility at the National Museum of Japanese History… A Perspective from a
Visiting Researcher,” National Museum of Japanese History, July 28, 2015
• “In the Absence of the Thing: Authenticity and the Agency of the Three Sacred Treasures,”
Forum on Research in Medieval Studies, University of Michigan, October 22, 2014
• “In the Absence of the Thing: Authenticity and the Agency of the Three Sacred Treasures,”
University of Michigan Japanese Studies Graduate Student Conference, University of Michigan,
May 1, 2014
• “Engaging the Environment: Prehistoric Interactions with Lake Biwa,” Midwest Conference on
Asian Affairs, October 26, 2013

WORKSHOPS
• “Preparing Future Faculty,” University of Michigan, Center for Research on Teaching and
Learning, May-June 2019
• “Introduction to Kuzushiji (Handwritten Script),” University of Michigan, Center for Japanese
Studies, May-June 2013
• “Japanese Pedagogy,” University of Michigan, Asian Languages and Cultures, May-June 2013

ACADEMIC SERVICE
• Environmental History Interest Group, Coordinator, 2016-2020; Rackham Interdisciplinary
Workshop
• Japanese Studies Interdisciplinary Colloquium, 2013-2016; Rackham Interdisciplinary
Workshop

GRANT REVIEWS
• May 2019 - Administration for Native Americans, Native American Language Preservation and
Maintenance

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Forest History Society

PREVIOUS NAME
Christina Ladkau; changed August, 2014, Washtenaw County, MI