Postdoctoral Affiliate
Current Research
Akira’s postdoctoral research expands on his doctoral thesis completed at the University of Oxford, titled International Baccalaureate Teacher Training in Japanese Higher Education: An Ethnography of Internationalist & Globalist Agendas. Contextualized in the rise of IB education in Japan, he explored how different ideologies, pedagogies, and languages forwarded by various actors – ranging from teachers and policymakers, to governmental and corporate elites – vie for the titles of ‘international’ and ‘global.’ Conducting a digital ethnography of IB teacher training at Japanese universities and at the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) during COVID-19, Akira found these field sites to amplify vastly divergent practices of ‘international’ and ‘global education,’ despite the influence of globally dominant ‘White’ imperialisms and locally prevalent nationalisms. Building off these findings, Akira’s postdoctoral fieldwork includes ethnographic research at Japanese IB schools, where he seeks to understand how educators are negotiating this politically complex landscape in everyday life.
Select Research Interests
Globalism, internationalism, education, ideology, pedagogy, language, imperialism, Whiteness, Japaneseness, minoritization, majoritization, identity, neoliberalism, digitality, Japan, Asia-Pacific
Email: akira.shah [at] anthro.ox.ac.uk
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dr-akira-shah-945519193/
Recent Publication
Shah, Akira. 2023. “Digital Ethnography in COVID-19: Improvisation & Intimacy.” Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford XV: 178-193. ISSN: 2040-1876
