Weingärtner, Till
University College Cork. School of Asian Studies. Lecturer

Japanese studies resources at University College Cork (Ireland)

The Department of Asian Studies at University College Cork is the only department dedicated to Asian Studies as an academic discipline on the entire island of Ireland.  Its staff engages in a broad variety of research relating to various aspects of societies, cultures, business, languages and the arts across the wider Asian region, with a particular focus on China, Korea and Japan. It is unique in Ireland, providing the only BA and MA Degrees in Asian Studies, as well as the only department offering Chinese, Korean and Japanese language education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. A first permanent post for Japanese Studies was set up first in 2014. Japanese language education is provided by part-time language instructors.

The Japan collection and the number of available resources in Japanese however is small compared to universities in the UK, for example. Even after the end of the financial crisis, library budgets have remained limited. Most acquisitions done over the last few years were for materials essential for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Materials in Japanese language remain limited and are mostly present thanks to donations. In my talk, I intend to provide an overview of how the Japan collection has developed in connection with the development of the department and address future potential, focusing on areas that could further be developed and open up potential not only for teaching but also research needs, in areas such as “nihonjin-ron” or Japanese “comedy” studies.