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Faculty Fellow

Thomas Lamarre

Gordon J. Laing Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the College University of Chicago

Biography

Photo by Erielle Bakkum

Thomas Lamarre teaches in the Departments of Cinema and Media Studies and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Much of his research centers on the history of media in Japan, ranging from the role of inscription technologies in ninth-century Japan (Uncovering Heian Japan, 2000) to silent cinema and the global imaginary (Shadows on the Screen, 2005), animation technologies (The Anime Machine, 2009) and contemporary infrastructure ecologies (The Anime Ecology, 2018). He has recently joined the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization, as his current research on nuclear ecologies has gravitated toward the intersection of media studies and environmental studies, building on his earlier training in cell biology, microbiology, and ocean sciences. His interest in this initiative on phytological critique — honing critical inquiry through a combination of scientific and philosophical engagement with plants across gradations of complexity — stems from a longstanding engagement with molecular approaches to ecology.

Featured Project

Projects

Re-Staging the Lakeview Japanese American Neighborhood

Two women bowling

Re-Staging the Lakeview Japanese American Neighborhood

A Visiting Fellowship will enable Japanese novelist Yu Miri to develop an archive of oral histories and a theatrical performance based on interviews with local Japanese Americans on their memories of the community that sprung up in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood after World War II.

This project will bring Yu Miri, one of Japan’s most distinguished novelists and playwrights, to campus as a Neubauer Collegium Visiting Fellow. During this stay she will work with local faculty to develop an archive of oral history interviews she will conduct with members of the local Japanese...