Anne McKnight

Anne McKnight is an Associate Professor of Japanese and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), and serves as Director of the Program on Japan and Vice Chair of the Comparative Literature Department. Her work bridges Japanese literature, cinema, and cultural studies, with a focus on post-1945 Japan, media intersections, and marginalized voices. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley (2001) and has extensive postdoctoral research experience at Tokyo University (1996-99) and the Stanford University Japanese Language Center (1994-95).

Education:

• PhD in Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley, 2001
• MA in Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley, 1992
• BA in English (magna cum laude), Wellesley College, 1988

Research Interests:

• Japanese literature and culture post-1945
• Cinema studies, including eco-cinema, non-fiction film, and science film
• Food studies and cultural intersections
• Racialization and blackness in Japanese media
• Feminist critiques of censorship and media activism
• French cultural influences on Japanese pop culture

Publications: Recent works include Long Take: Kurosawa Akira as Cinéphile (forthcoming 2025) and Nakagami, Japan: Buraku and the Writing of Ethnicity (2011). Her articles explore topics like eco-cinema, science film optics, and the cultural politics of buraku history. She co-edited special volumes on Tsushima Yūko and Amami Ōshima’s silk patterns.

Awards:

• 2012 Katherine Singer Kovács Essay Award (Honorable Mention)

Advocacy & Grants: Known for her interdisciplinary approach, McKnight’s work often intersects activism and academia. She has organized community garden-based pedagogy and received grants for projects like The Pattern Book. Her current research on Kurosawa Akira repositions him as a key figure in global cinéphile culture.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the Biomaterial Matters project (Nanyang Technical University) and the Japan Focus editorial collective.