GREGORY POOLE
The Institute for the Liberal Arts
Professor
Last Updated :2024/06/05

Researcher Profile and Settings

    Profile

    Gregory S. Poole is a professor of social anthropology at the Institute for the Liberal Arts, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.

    He holds a doctorate in social anthropology (University of Oxford, Institute of Social & Cultural Anthropology), masters degrees in Japanese studies (University of Sheffield) and linguistics (University of Surrey), and a bachelor's degree in anthropology (Brown University).

    His research interests encompass the fields of educational anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and the anthropology of Japan and he has served on the executive committees of the Council on Anthropology and Education (American Anthropological Association), the Anthropology of Japan in Japan, and the Japan International Education Society.

    Please refer to the attached research list (PDF file, click "Download" below in the Published Papers section).

    Research funding number

    60307147

Research Areas

  • Humanities & social sciences / Linguistics / Linguistic anthropology, pragmatics
  • Humanities & social sciences / Sociology of education / Educational anthropology
  • Humanities & social sciences / Cultural anthropology and folklore / Social anthropology

Research Experience

  • Doshisha University, The Institute for the Liberal Arts, Professor of Social Anthropology, 2010/10 - Today
  • University of Tsukuba, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor of Social Anthropology, 2009/09 - 2010/09
  • Tama University, School of Global Studies, Professor of Social Anthropology, 2007/04 - 2009/08
  • Takachiho University, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Associate Professor, 2002/04 - 2007/03
  • Takachiho University of Commerce, Faculty of Commerce, Assistant Professor, 1998/04 - 2002/03

Degree

  • DPhil, Oxford
  • MA, Surrey
  • MA, Sheffield
  • AB Honors, Brown

Association Memberships

  • European Association of Japanese Studies
  • Association of Asian Studies
  • American Anthropological Association
  • Anthropology of Japan in Japan (AJJ)
  • Japan Anthropology Workshop (JAWS)

Published Papers

Books etc

  • Please refer to the attached list (PDF file, click "Download" in "Papers" above)
    Gregory POOLE

Research Projects

  • Transnationalism in American Studies and Future of Area Studies
    Keiko Ikeda Keiko; Bestor Theodore; Kelly William; Yano Chris; Stevens Carolynn; Fine Kathleen; White Merry; Whitelaw Gavin; Dominguez Virginia; Desmond Jane
    This study centered around the questin of how the area studies can survives in the face of global disciplinary reorganization. Working together with American researchers, we examined the directions of transnational area studies from multi-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives and searched for a new model of area studies in the age of globalization. More concretely, we examined 1) Discursive change in Transnational American Studies in the U.S., quantitative and qualitative change in international programs, curriculum change; 2) Restructuring of area studies program in Japan and U.S.;3) the issues related to scholarly identity and career development., Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, 2015/04 -2019/03, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Doshisha University
  • Analysing the factors impeding the degrees of Willingness to Communiate in English
    MATSUOKA RIeko; POOLE Gregory; MATSUMOTO Kahoko; JOHNSON Michel; TSUTSUMI Rie
    The social anthropological factors were explored in order to find the causes leading Japanese college students with sufficient English proficiency and motivation of communication to be hesitant in communicating in English. The questionnaire consisting of 238 items from previous studies was tried with Japanese college students several times, and as a result, the number of items was reduced into 42 items. The final version of questionnaire was administered to Japanese students and Italian students, and the Japanese social anthropological factors such as other-directedness were revealed. In addition, for the pedagogical application for raising the degree of willingness to communicate, the presentation in English in class as a part of extensive reading was found to be effective among many Japanese students., Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, 2012/04 -2015/03, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Research Institute, International Medical Center of Japan
  • Towards a Critical Examination of Flows of 'Knowledge' on 'Japan'
    OKADA Akito; HORIGUCHI Sachiko; POOL Gregory; IMOTO Yuki; KARIYA Takehiko; ICHINOSE Hiroki; SASAGAWA Ayumi
    This research project attempted to trace flows of knowledge on 'Japan' with its main focus on social sciences through examining its construction, distribution and consumption using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Our research shows that English language scholarship on 'Japan' is mostly constructed within certain North American and European institutions forming its core, that demand for Japanese studies programs continues to be high due to the global spread of Japanese popular culture, and that whilst there is disjuncture between scholarship in Japanese social sciences and that within Japanese studies abroad, Japanese scholars trained abroad ('hybrid scholars') may play a vital role in overcoming the divide. We held symposiums at the University of Oxford and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies to report on our research outcomes and to provide a forum for dialogues among researchers in Japan and abroad, part of which discussion has been made available online., Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, 2011 -2013, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
  • Construction of a genre-based learning system for English legal documents for professional education
    TERAUCHI Hajime; NOGUCHI Judy; GREGORY Poole
    Research was conducted in order to develop a genre-based learning system for legal documents to be used in the English-language education of professionals in jurisprudence. The system has the following characteristics : (1) it enables students to learn important English terminology ; (2) it maintains records of individual students to support efficient study ; and (3) it has links from exercise questions to important key words and a thesaurus. The system offers the following features : user identification, presentation of exercise questions (multiple choice questions related to important English legal terminology), presentation of answers to the exercise questions (can be viewed after the exercise has been completed), and views of learner records (correct and incorrect responses and terminology). In training to become legal professionals, students can use this system from both the linguistic and professional viewpoints to both read and write (prepare) legal documents in English., Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, 2007 -2009, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Takachiho University
  • The Development of an ESP Law Dictionary Based on the US Constitutional Cases : Suggestions for ESP Education in Japan
    TERAUCHI Hajime; MORI Seiichi; NOGUCHI Judy; POOLE Gregory; SASAJIMA Shigeru
    This research discusses issues related to the teaching of semi-technical vocabulary, present tools and techniques for analyzing such terms, and offers examples of how the analyses can aid applications in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). As an example, we use legal vocabulary from a corpus of US Constitutional Cases from the United States which was analyzed for word meanings, grammatical features, collocational patterns and frequently occurring specific discoursal features. The theoretical foundations of this research lie in applied linguistics and corpus linguistics, which are currently being used to prepare general English-Japanese dictionaries. Law dictionaries offer definitions of legal technical words and their historical backgrounds, but unfortunately lack examples of how these legal words should be used in context. Furthermore, there are no explanations as to how words with general senses are used with legal senses in legal documents. This can be a problem for non-native English-speaking law students, leading to difficulties in comprehending cases written in English because they frequently cannot fully understand the meaning of semi-technical legal words. The highly technical terms, on the other hand, tend to be easier to master. This research project presents an approach to identifying differences in the usage of words in general and specific contexts as well as to find collocations common to field-specific corpora. This project lays the basis for developing effective teaching materials, and the model developed can be applicable to other fields of language for specific/special purposes., Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, 2003 -2005, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Takachiho University
  • Please refer to the attached list (PDF file, click "Download" in "Papers" above)
    Gregory POOLE
    Principal investigator, Competitive research funding