Alisa Freedman, professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures, has been named a 2026 Williams Fellow by the UO Office of the Provost. This prestigious award recognizes innovative teachers who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to undergraduate education by challenging their students academically, creating an engaged and inclusive learning environment, striving to improve the learning process, and fostering collaboration within or beyond their departments.
In March, CAS Connection profiled Freedman's ASIA 399: Japanese Popular Culture and the World, a course she created a decade ago to help students better understand the trends they love, their culture and social meanings, and the patterns of globalization they represent.
“The class was inspired by my research and teaching interests in how culture and people flow between Japan and the US, creating new practices in the process,” she said. “It was also inspired by discussions with UO students about how they make Japanese popular culture part of their lives in Oregon.”
Since its inception, the class has grown from a freshman seminar where new students could form communities and gain academic skills to a large enrollment 300-level class that counts toward many majors and includes students from all grade levels.
Freedman finds that popular culture provides an accessible means to talk about topics otherwise difficult to approach.
“The appeal of popular culture lies in its escapism and easy consumption without having to think deeply,” said Freedman. “But when we do think about it, it teaches about society, business, politics, globalization, identity, media, communication, art, psychology and so much more.”
With funding from CSWS Faculty Research Grants, Freedman has worked to preserve the personal stories of trailblazing women who changed education, US–Japan relations, and gender norms in two books: Women in Japanese Studies: Voices from a Trailblazing Generation (Columbia University Press, AAS Past and Present Book Series, 2023) and Cold War Coeds: The Untold Story of Japanese Women Sponsored by the US Military (in progress).
Freedman recently has been working as a Fulbright Scholar to elevate women’s scholarship in Vietnam by teaching courses and workshops on academic publishing in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.