Fumiko Sasaki

Focus areas: Asian security, governments, political culture, Internet and political participation, international relations, globalization, Japanese politics and political thought, technology and innovation for education  

Fumiko Sasaki is a specialist in international relations focused on Asia as well as Japanese Politics. At Columbia University, she teaches East Asian Security for SIPA during the summer session, is an advisor for the capstone program, taught Politics, Society and Sustainable Environment at the Earth Institute, and was an Adjunct Associate Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. She teaches East Asian Security at School of Advanced International studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, too. Previously, she was a visiting scholar at The New School. She has been a panelist and speaker on various occasions at Columbia University and at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Sasaki received a Ph. D and M. A. in Asian Studies and International Relations from SAIS at Johns Hopkins University. Her book, Nationalism, Political Realism and Democracy in Japan: The Thought of Masao Maruyama, assesses the development of democracy in Post-War Japan through the writings of the brilliant political thinker. She has appeared as an expert in various media and frequently lectures on Asian security issues.

Her research currently focuses on a quantitative and comparative study of whether/how Internet use enhances political participation. She authored two journal publications in 2016 as part of this study that will be included in her manuscript, What Drives People to Online Politics? An International Comparison of Online Political Participation. This book will explain what makes people politically active online and why attitudes toward political use of Internet differ among Taiwan, Japan, China and South Korea yet each essentially share the same culture.   

Professor Sasaki teaches a broad array of classes in Political Science and Sociology, including Global Challenges, Critical Issues in Society, and Social Science Methodology, in addition to traditional courses in International Relations.

In her capacity as the director of the Community E-Learning Initiative at Distance Education for Africa, Dr. Sasaki is passionate and actively involved in enhancing education in Africa. Specifically, she focuses on the development of job opportunities for the African youth by adopting innovative technologies to education and by connecting students with educational institutions in the US and in Japan. She is also actively engaged in the empowerment of Japanese women, as the executive director at the Japan Institute for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (JSIE), where she organizes various conferences and forums that strengthen women’s social participation and entrepreneurship.

Education

• PhD, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies
• MA, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies
• BA, Aoyama Gakuin University

Affiliations

• American Political Science Association
• Midwest Political Science Association
• National Committee of American Foreign Policy

Honors and Awards

• St. Edward’s University Presidential Grant
• Sasakawa Scientific Grant