Michael Wert
Position title: Associate Professor
Email: michael.wert@marquette.edu
Address:
Marquette University
Michael Wert is an associate professor of East Asian history with a focus on early modern and modern Japan. His first book, Meiji Restoration Losers: Memory and Tokugawa Supporters in Modern Japan, engages memory theory by asking how memory can help answer broader historical questions. Specifically, it traces the “memory landscapes” of the Meiji Restoration from 1868 to the present through the lens of those on the losing side. His second project continues to center around the Meiji Restoration, using theoretical insights to investigate the role of martial fantasy, culture, and violence in the early modern period. Part of this project had led to the publishing of Samurai: A Short Introduction.
At Marquette he teaches undergraduate courses on Japanese history, premodern East Asian history, and violence, and for graduate students he teaches early modern world history, and theory/methodology. He also runs a Marx reading group for graduate students and faculty.