Research Interests
OTA’s research focuses on people’s “ecology” in medieval Arab urban society and aims to deepen our understanding of survival knowledge by elucidating interconnections with the help of both digital humanities and close reading of historical sources. In recent years, she has been working on data mining the networks of scholars, administrators, and other civilian elites in the 15th century through structuring digitized historical documents and employing Resource Description Framework (RDF).
One of her broader interests is co-creation of academic knowledge with society. She has made it her life’s work to open up new opportunities for people to interactively experience and share universal knowledge gained from the humanities and social science. So far, OTA has collaborated with nursery schools and private companies to offer parent-child workshops and exhibitions for the general public. She also puts considerable emphasis on the nature of communication: rather than one-way transmission of information from researchers, with the aim toward two-way dialogue with “questions,” striving to learn more and achieve new insights through “chemistry” that occurs in this process.
〈Key Words〉
Mamluk Sultanate History, History of the Mediterranean Region, Civilian Elites, Prosopography, Digital Humanities, Interdisciplinary Research, Co-Creation of Academic Knowledge
CV
Studied abroad at Cairo University, Arab Republic of Egypt (2008-2011) while enrolled in the doctoral program at Keio University Graduate School of Letters. Ph.D. in History.
【Past Academic Positions】
Lecturer, the Faculty of Letters and The Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University
Project Assistant Professor, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa , Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Books & Articles
【Papers】
Wāʽiẓ in the Late Mamluk Society: A Case Study of the Prominent Popular Preacher, al-Qudsi, Bulletin of the Society for Western and Southern Asiatic Studies, 71, 28-43, 2009. (in Japanese)
“Waʽẓ” and “Wāʽiẓ” in the Medieval Arab Society, Ajia Ni Okeru “Chi no Dentatsu” no Dento to Keifu (Traditions and Genealogy of the “Transmission of Knowledge” in Asia), ed. by Masami Yamamoto, Keio University Press, 293-329, 2012. (in Japanese)
A Popular Preacher in Late Mamlūk Society: A Case Study of a Prominent Wāʻiẓ, Abū al-ʻAbbās al-Qudsī, Orient, 48 21-35, 2013.
Zayn al-Dīn ibn Muzhir: The Career and Lineage of an Influential Bureaucrat in the Late Mamlūk Period, The Historical Science, 83(2/3), 37-81, 2014. (in Japanese)
Zayn al-Dīn ibn Muzhir (2): The Official Duties and Charitable Achievements of an Influential Bureaucrat in the Late Mamlūk Period, The Historical Science, 84(1-4), 135-180, 2015. (in Japanese)
Zayn al-Dīn ibn Muzhir’s Pilgrimages and Charitable Achievements in al-Haramayn, The Historical Science, 88(2), 23-52, 2019. (in Japanese)
The Muzhir Family: Marriage as a Disaster Mitigation Strategy, Orient, 54, 127-144, 2019.
Mamluk Urban Society as Described in the 15th Century Pilgrimage to Jerusalem: Background on the Tribulations of the Journey, Chichukai Ken Toshi no Katsuryoku to Henbou (Vitality and Transformation of the Cities of the Mediterranean Area), 279-297, 2021. (in Japanese)
The Dream Account of a Prominent Bureaucrat of the Late Mamlūk Period: Zayn al-Dīn ibn Muzhir’s Miraculous Story as Reflecting His Human Connections, The Historical Science, 90(1), 57-73, 2021. (in Japanese)
Formation of the Ideal Bureaucrat Image and Patronage in the Late Mamlūk Period: Zayn al-Dīn Ibn Muzhir and ʻUlamāʼ, Al-Madaniyya: Keio Bulletin of Middle Eastern and Asian Urban History, 1, 41-61, 2021.
Nominal Relationships of the 15th-Century ʻUlamāʼ Build by “Ijāza of Istidʻāʼ, Bulletin of the Society for Western and Southern Asiatic Studies, 97, 1-22, 2024. (in Japanese)
The “Notoriety” of ʻUlamāʼ in the Biographical Records of the Late Mamluk Dynasty: From the Selection of “Records” to the Sharing as “Memory”, The Historical Science, 92(4), 87-109, 2024. (in Japanese)
【Publications】
The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Berkey, Jonathan Porter, trans. by Shin Nomoto and Erina Ota-Tsukada, Keio University, 2013.
【Awards】
“Sumitomo Life Woman Researcher Encouragement Prizes”, 2019.
【Professional Memberships】
– The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
– Japan Association for Middle East Studies
– The Society for Western and Southern Asiatic Studies
– Association for Children’s Environment
【researchmap (English)】
https://researchmap.jp/erina_ota-tsukada/?lang=en