Other: The Job Market for Japanese Historians

Jonathan Dresner at Frog in a Well just posted some comments about the current job market in Japanese history that might be of interest and relevance, even to those of us working on Korea and China.

This could be a very interesting year for the job market, not to mention for Asian history blogging. [...]

Well, the majority of this year’s crop of jobs has been posted, and it’s time to take stock. I’ll start. [...]

When I look at the market, I divide it up into four groups, roughly:

Japan jobs: usually at top-tier research or teaching institutions, these positions require little or no teaching outside of Japanese history (though interdisciplinary program-building comes up sometimes). A department doesn’t hire a Japan specialist unless they’ve got a lot of other bases covered, and large departments like that often have a strong research orientation, four- or five-course per year teaching loads, graduate programs.

Asia or East Asia jobs: East Asia positions usually want someone who can teach at least China and Japan3 ; Asia positions often include South Asia as a desirable teaching field. A regional survey is very often a required part of the teaching load, part of the contribution to general education. Sometimes a regional or period specialization is specified, which can mean either pre-existing programs or the presence of other Asianists in a department. These positions are usually in medium-sized departments with strong US/European coverage, and some non-Western history; sometimes these are fairly distinguished schools with strong research expectations, and/or very high standards for teaching, and graduate programs are also a possibility.

Asia + World jobs: A lot like the above category — China and Japan, sometimes India, plus a regional survey are expected courses — plus some World History teaching. Sometimes very large teaching-oriented departments, but more often smaller departments with a lot of general education service expected. Rarely less than a 3-3 teaching schedule, and specified regional specialties usually indicate what they think students will be interested in (or other external factors) rather than the presence of other Asian historians.

World + Asia jobs: Sometimes “Non-Western World” jobs with no region specified, these positions are always heavily oriented to general education teaching, often with 4-4 teaching loads and multiple sections of World History required on a regular basis. These may be small departments in large institutions (actually, they’re almost always small relative to the institution), medium-sized or large departments without a lot of depth, or departments which have some non-western coverage but which need World History sections more than they need regional speciality courses. Community colleges, if they have any non-Western history at all, usually fall into this category.4
I wonder if Americanists or Europeanists see a similar kind of segmentation, or if the descriptions shake out in a different pattern?