Elizabeth Dorn Lublin

Elizabeth Dorn Lublin is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Wayne State University, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She specializes in modern Japanese history, with a focus on gender, reform movements, and citizenship. Prior to her academic career, she spent seven years in Japan, including teaching English through the JET Program and receiving the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship. Her research challenges conventional narratives about women's exclusion from political spheres and explores transnational reform movements like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

Education:

• Ph.D., Modern Japanese History, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003
• Certificate, Intensive Japanese Language Studies, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, 1997
• M.A., Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 1994
• B.A., History and East Asian Studies, Yale University, 1991

Research Interests: Dr. Lublin’s work examines Japan’s modernization through lenses of gender, religion, and social reform. Her first book, Reforming Japan: The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in the Meiji Period, reinterprets women’s political agency and Christian activism. Her current project, King Tobacco in Meiji Japan, analyzes the tobacco industry’s role in Japan’s economic and cultural modernization, including state monopolies and anti-smoking campaigns. She integrates themes of public health, advertising, and transnational movements into her scholarship.

Awards & Grants:

• Japan Foundation Institutional Project Support Small Grant (2018–2019)
• Association for Asian Studies First Book Subvention Grant (2009)
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (2008–2009)

Teaching & Engagement: Lublin teaches courses on modern East Asian history, Japanese pop culture, and historical methodology. She actively organizes academic seminars like the Midwest Japan Seminar, supported by grants. Her interdisciplinary approach connects historical analysis with contemporary social issues.