Michael J. Toole
Teaching Assistant Professor of Japanese
What I do
Michael Toole is Teaching Assistant Professor of Japanese in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Denver. He teaches courses on Japanese culture, language, and literature at the University of Denver.Specialization(s)
Japanese literature, Japanese Visual Culture, Queer Studies, Japanese Language Pedagogy, Disability Studies
Professional Biography
Michael's research interests include Japanese literature, inclusive language pedagogies, visual culture, premodern paleography, queer theory, and disability studies. He holds a Ph.D. in Japanese from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA in Japanese Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA in Japanese Language and Literature and Hispanic Language and Literatures from Boston University.
His current project examines visions of sexuality, the body and normalcy in 17th and 18th-century Japan. His research has been supported by the Fulbright IIE Fellowship, through which he conducted research for 18 months at the National Institute of Japanese Literature in Tokyo. He has also received the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) to study Chinese, and studied early modern Japanese literature at the University of Tsukuba through a fellowship from the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO).
His current project examines visions of sexuality, the body and normalcy in 17th and 18th-century Japan. His research has been supported by the Fulbright IIE Fellowship, through which he conducted research for 18 months at the National Institute of Japanese Literature in Tokyo. He has also received the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) to study Chinese, and studied early modern Japanese literature at the University of Tsukuba through a fellowship from the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO).
Degree(s)
- BA, Japanese Language and Literature and Hispanic Language and Literatures, Boston University
- MA, Japanese Literature, Washington University in St. Louis
- Ph.D., Japanese , University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2020
Professional Affiliations
- American Association of Teachers of Japanese
Areas of Research
Japanese literature
Japanese Visual Culture
queer studies
Disability Studies
gender and sexuality studies
Japanese Language Pedagogy
Manga Studies
