Professor, University of Texas at Austin
About John
I'm Professor and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where I'm also a professor in the program in Human Dimensions of Organizations. I received my BA from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, MA from Yale University, and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. I'm the author of numerous articles and books related to Japanese culture including Taming Oblivion: Aging Bodies and the Fear of Senility in Japan (SUNY Press, 2000) and The Practice of Concern: Ritual, Well-Being, and Aging in Rural Japan (Carolina Academic Press, 2004), and my most recent book related to Japan, Cosmopolitan Rurality, Depopulation, and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in 21st Century Japan (Cambria Press, 2020). I also publish regularly on the ethics and culture of space exploration. My work has appeared in journals such as Space Policy and The International Journal of Astrobiology and his most recent book in that area is Science, Culture, and the Search for Life on Other Worlds (Springer, 2016).