Professor Reinier Hesselink teaches the history and culture of the Japanese islands from ancient to modern times at the University of Northern Iowa. His specialty is the cross-fertilization of Japanese sources with information derived from the writings of Europeans visiting the islands between the 16th and 19th centuries, allowing for a new and multi-dimensional description of Japan’s early modern past. He enjoys taking a written document, a painting, a map, or a household object like a screen to analyze and elucidate their contexts, geneses, as well as their contemporary and subsequent meanings. He will be teaching two seminars on the history of the city of Nagasaki: in the fall of 2022 a seminar on The Beginnings of Nagasaki (1560-1640), and in the spring of 2023 a seminar on The Dutch in Japan (1600-1868).
Visiting Professor in East Asian Studies and History of Art (July 2022 - June 2023)