Gregory James Smits (born 1960) is an American historian, academic, writer and

Japanologist , sometimes known as Japanology in Europe, is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, History of Japan, history, ...

. He is a professor of Japanese history at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

.Pennsylvania State University
"Gregory James Smits"
; retrieved 2013-3-22.

Early life

Smits was born in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

. He earned a BA from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in 1983. He was awarded a master's degree from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

at Manoa. The

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

granted his Ph.D.

Select works

Smit's published writings encompass 8 works in 18 publications in 2 languages and 1,101 library holdings. WorldCat Identities

Smits, Gregory 1960-
/ref> * ''The sages' scale in Japan: Nakae Tōju (1608-1648) and situational weighing,'' 1991 * ''Visions of Ryukyu identity and ideology in early-modern thought and politics,'' 1999 * ''Jahana Noboru: Ikinawan activist and scholar,'' 2002 * ''The politics of culture in early twentieth century Okinawa,'' 2006 * ''Economic thought in early modern Japan,'' 2010 * ''Early Ryukyuan History: A New Model'', 2024

References

External links

Smits faculty website
American Japanologists Pennsylvania State University faculty Living people 1960 births 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers {{US-academic-bio-stub