Mark Weeks

Associate Professor, BA, PhD (University of Western Australia)

E-mail: weeks(at)lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Mail: Graduate School of Languages and Cultures

Nagoya University,

Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku

Nagoya 464-8601

〒464-8610　名古屋市千種区不老町B4-5(700)

名古屋大学国際言語文化研究科

Phone: (052)789-4523

Short Biography

I was born in the city of Bristol, England in 1961 and moved with my family to Western Australia when I was five years old. I grew up and was educated there, and now hold both British and Australian Citizenship. I have also taught and researched at Kyushu University in Japan and Prince of Songkhla University in Southern Thailand.

Education

¨ Ph.D. English, The University of Western Australia, Perth (February, 1997)

Dissertation: Ecstasy and Indifférance: The Predicament of Laughter in the Age of Fast Capitalism.

* My doctoral dissertation actually began as a Masters Degree thesis and was converted to a PhD thesis.

¨ BA English (Honors), The University of Western Australia, Perth (December, 1988)

Double Major: English

Other subjects: Psychology, French language

Honors dissertation: “The Insignificance of Comic Form”

¨ Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language, St. Mark’s International College, Perth, Western Australia (July, 1996)

Research Areas

Cultural and Cross-cultural studies

Literature

Philosophy

Humour theory

* I am currently researching theoretical approaches to laughter across cultures under a research grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2012-14).

Selected Publications

Ø “Laughter is a Time Machine.” Philosophy Now. 80 (August/September, 2010). 14-16. [London]

Ø ““Laughter and Japan in Transition: Towards an Understanding through a Time-based Incongruity Theory.” Studies in Languages and Cultures. 25 (March, 2010). 149-62. [Kyushu University]

Ø Milan Kundera: A Modern History of Comedy amid the Comedy of History,” Journal of Modern Literature, 28:3 (Spring, 2005). [Indiana University Press]

Ø “Beyond a Joke: Nietzsche and the Birth of Superlaughter,” The Journal of Nietzsche Studies 27 (Spring, 2004). [Pennsylvania State University]

Ø “Laughter, Desire and Time,” International Journal of Humor Studies 15:4 (December, 2002), pp. 383-400. [Mouton de Gruyter, New York]

Ø “From Catch-22 to Closing Time: A Decline of Otherness,” Songklanakarin: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 7:1 (April, 2001), pp. 78-87. [Prince of Songkhla University, Thailand]

Ø “The Power of Time,” in the book Essays on Literature and Culture of the Asia-Pacific Region, eds. Dennis Haskell & Ron Shephard, Perth: University of Western Australia Press (2000), pp. 63-71.

Ø “Voyagers Across the Web of Time: Angkarn, Nietzsche and Temporal Colonization,” The Journal of South East Asian Studies 30:2 (September, 1999), pp. 325-37. (with Frédéric Maurel) [National University of Singapore]

Ø “Indifférance: The Difference between Laughter and Jouissance,” Southern Review 31:2 (November, 1998), pp. 4-11. [Sydney]

Ø “Laughter and the Ludic Economy: Delillo and Kundera,” Meridian 17:1 (May 1998), pp. 89-107. [La Trobe University, Melbourne]

Ø "Thailand: a Time and Motion Study," Meridian 16:2 (October, 1997), pp. 117-22. [La Trobe University, Melbourne]

Teaching History

Graduate School of Languages and Cultures, Nagoya University, Japan (April 2011- Present)

Graduate Seminar

The Culture of Play and Postmodernity

General Courses

Academic English Advanced/Intermediate/Basic)

Elective Courses

Presentations Skills

Writing

Reading

Centre for International Education, Kyushu University, (December 2009 – March 2011 )

Lecture Course

"Laughter, Play and the Meaning of Life"

General Courses

Academic Writing and Presentation

General English

Electives

Academic Presentation Skills

Conversation

21^st Century Program

English Speaking Communication

Research Centre for Advancement in Higher Education, Kyushu University (April 2008 – December 2009)

General Courses

Academic Writing and Presentations

Communication

Academic Presentation Skills

21^st Century Program

English Speakers' Thinking (英語発想法)

Other Activities at Kyushu University

Judge, Kyushu University English Presentation Contest, 2009, 2011

DDK: Weekly English Discussion Group, twice weekly February 2010 – February 2011
Judge, Kyushu University International Bioethics Debate Tournament, March, 2009

Judge, Kyushu Sangyo University Debate Exchange, November 2009, 2010

Faculty of Languages and Cultures, Nagoya University, Japan (April 2002 - March 2007)

Graduate Level

Taught courses in cultural studies, literature, film and philosophy

2002-4: Understanding Cultural Conflicts through Binary Structure

2005-7: Desire as a Myth: from Don Quixote to American Beauty

* Support Supervisor on 3 Masters dissertations (all successful): 2006-7

Undergraduate Level English Courses

- Communication

- Reading

- General English

Prince of Songkhla University (From June 1999 to March 2002)

At graduate level

American Literature into Film: 1950s to 1990s

British Literature of the Nineteenth Century

Graduate Writing

Literary Theory

Postmodern Literature

Completed supervision of an MA thesis submitted to the Department of Western Languages.

At undergraduate level

Advanced Writing, Upper-Intermediate Writing,

Advanced Listening and Speaking , Upper-Intermediate Listening and Speaking

British Literature

American Film

English Speaking Culture

Extracurricular Activities at PSU

Editorial Board, Songklanakarin: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

Editor, English Students’ Magazine

Co-host, weekly English language radio program

Main English language editor, proofreader and consultant for the Faculty

Prince of Songkhla University (June – October, 1997)

I was employed as a full-time lecturer in the Masters program at Prince of Songkhla University in Southern Thailand from June to October 1997 as part of a teaching exchange program conducted with UWA. I designed and taught the following courses: Critical Approaches to Literature (Literary Theory), Research Writing

University Of Western Australia, Perth (1991-1995, 1997-1998)

I was employed by UWA as a part-time tutor with lecturing responsibilities in the following courses:

Nineteenth Century American Literature

Twentieth Century American Literature

Postmodernist Narrative

American Realist Fiction Between the Wars

Language, Image and Critical Awareness

Ideas of Modernity

American Humor and Satire (as co-course coordinator)

Edith Cowan University, Perth (1997-1998)

I was employed by ECU as a part-time lecturer/tutor in the following courses:

- American Literature 1840-1910

- Public Relations Writing

- Popular Drama: Ancient and Modern

- Writing for the Media

Government Training and Further Education College, Perth (July 1998 to May 1999)

I was employed on a regular part-time basis as an ESL lecturer, teaching all skills to students from various departments, including business studies, art and design.

St. Mark’s International College, Perth (June - December, 1996; July 1998 - May, 1999)

I was employed as an English language teacher on a regular part-time basis, teaching all language skills at all levels

Teaching Award

Excellence in Teaching Award, General Education (全学教育優秀業賞), Kyushu University, 2010.