Waseda University Podcasts: Rigorous Research, Real Impact

In the final episode of season two PhD student host Peter speaks with Professor Yuhee Jung of the Faculty of Social Sciences to explore how new employees transition from organizational “outsiders” to trusted “insiders.” Drawing onher research in organizational behavior and human resource management, Professor Jung explains how institutionalized socialization practices—such as structured training,...

The seventh episode of season two features Professor Alex Coad ( Faculty of Commerce ), whose new study compares the motivations, cultures, and performance of entrepreneurs emerging from universities versus those from the corporate world. In conversation with host & PhD student Fabian Johannes ( Graduate School of Economics ), Professor Coad challenges the assumption that cutting-edge academic...

In this episode of “Rigorous Research, Real Impact,” Graduate School of Political Science PhD student Peter sits down with Associate Professor Pau Pitarch from the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences to explore how early 20th-century authors and artists in Japan reimagined their identities. Prof. Pitarch unpacks why writers in the 1920s proudly identified with mental “abnormality” as a mark of c...

The fifth episode of season two, hosted once again by Graduate School of Economics PhD student Fabian, welcomes Associate Professor Megumi Kagawa from Waseda’s Faculty of Social Sciences , whose research focuses on community-driven approaches to sustainable peace. Drawing on her extensive experience in the Bangsamoro peace process in the Southern Philippines, Professor Kagawa discusses the concept...

Episode 4 features an engaging conversation with Associate Professor Jack Seddon from the Faculty of Political Science and Economics . Hosted by Fabian, a PhD student at Waseda’s Graduate School of Economics , this episode uncovers “the hidden architecture of the global economy.” Prof. Seddonshares insights from his research on the London Metal Exchange, revealing how global markets are shaped not...

In the third episode of season two of Waseda University’s podcast series  Rigorous Research, Real Impact , our PhD student host Peter interviews Professor  Alexander Bukh  about his award-winning research on territorial disputes in Northeast Asia. Professor Bukh explains how these disputes—like those over Dokdo/Takeshima and the Northern Territories—are not just political or historical conflicts b...

This latest episode features Assoc. Prof. Bryan Hikari Hartzheim (Faculty of International Research and Education), a leading expert in new media and video game studies, and PhD student Fabian ( Graduate School of Economics ) discussing the cultural significance and creative innovation behind video games. Through an exploration of “progressive game design” and the influential work of renowned game...

In this season two inaugural episode, Associate Professor Theron Muller from the Faculty of Human Sciences joins PhD student Peter Chai to discuss his research on translanguaging, which views languages as interconnected and synchronously working together, within the Japanese sociolinguistic context. The episode also highlights one of Waseda’s innovative English-based degree programs in the Graduat...

In this final episode of the first installment of the series, Assistant Professor Robert Fahey ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) serves as the guest and talks candidly with his Research Assistant Romeo Marcantuoni (Ph. D. Candidate, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies ) about their joint research project examining the rise of Japan’s Sanseito party, which was founded during the COVID-19...

In episode 7, Professor Toru Yoshikawa ( Faculty of Social Sciences ) speaks with MC Assistant Professor Yun Jung Yang ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) about his recent research exploring gender diversity in top management teams, particularly women in the role of the Chief Human Relations Officer (CHRO). Professor Yoshikawa worked with a team of researchers that investigated why women are i...

Guest Professor Gracia Liu-Farrer ( Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies ) joins MC Assistant Professor Robert Fahey ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) to explore skill-based migration policies in Asia, a region with more people on the move than any other. Japan features heavily in the discussion, with its increasingly liberal migration policies despite its persistent image as a country co...

In this episode, Professor Takashi Kubota ( Waseda Law School ) sits down to chat with MC Assistant Professor Robert Fahey ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) about the potential of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Japan using international comparisons. He shares his expert knowledge of the Japanese legal system, highlighting the aspects that obligate Japan’s government to communicate w...

Assistant Professor Jessy Escande ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) converses with MC Assistant Professor Robert Fahey ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) about the vital role that cultural transfer through “cultural ferrymen” such as J.L. Borges’ Book of Imaginary Beings has played in the development of a fantasy gaming tradition that is both uniquely Japanese and truly global. In this...

Associate Professor Marisa Kellam ( Faculty of Political Science and Economics ) joins MC Assistant Professor Robert Fahey ( Waseda Institute for Advanced Study ) to talk about their mutual research interests: populism and democracy. The focus of the episode is Professor Kellam’s recently published article, “Who's to Blame for Democratic Backsliding: Populists, Presidents, or Dominant Executives?”...

Waseda University Professor Lara Tienshi Chen (School of International Liberal Studies) serves as the guest expert again for episode two of "Rigorous Research, Real Impact". Professor Chen was raised in Yokohama, Japan and spent more than 30 years of her life categorized as “stateless”. In episode two, she introduces the advocacy work she does through her NPO Stateless Network and talks about moon...

Waseda University Professor Lara Tienshi Chen (School of International Liberal Studies) serves as the guest expert for the first two episodes of "Rigorous Research, Real Impact". Professor Chen was raised in Yokohama, Japan but spent more than 30 years of her life categorized as “stateless”. In episode one, she shares her personal experience living as a stateless person and recounts how this influ...