Today I talk with historians Alex Jania and Kristina Buhrman about COVID and disaster memory in East Asia.
Kristina Buhrman is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Religion at Florida State University. Her research focuses on the history of knowledge in and about premodern Japan, covering topics from divination and astrology to disasters. She has been a member of the Teach 3.11 collective since 2011, and is currently an editor for the site.
Alex Jania is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at University of Chicago focusing on Modern Japan. He is currently writing a dissertation on post-disaster memorialization in 20th and 21st century Japan and its place in global memory culture. Alex’s scholarship is part of a larger commitment to share the stories of Japanese disaster survivors for English speaking audiences. In particular, he has been involved in public history efforts like Humans of Minamisanriku and the Osaka Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International’s Kizuna Project, which both focus on the stories of 3/11 survivors in the Tōhoku region.