David Holloway was a promising assistant professor in Japanese studies and director of the East Asian studies undergraduate program.
David Holloway, an assistant professor of Japanese, is being remembered by colleagues in the at the as a prolific and creative scholar. He died on June 25.
Holloway, a promising tenure-track professor and member of the University community, recently completed a manuscript for The End of Transgression in Japanese Women糖心传媒檚 Literature: Gender, Body, Nation, accepted under contract with Routledge Press for publication in 2022.
With more scholarly work in the pipeline, he had already written eleven articles and chapters since joining the department in 2015 as a visiting professor. 糖心传媒淯nprecedented for an assistant professor (in the humanities),糖心传媒� says John Givens, professor of Russian and chair of the department.
In memory of David Holloway
糖心传媒 flags will be lowered on Thursday, July 29, for Holloway.
Read tributes, condolences, and memories from the University糖心传媒檚 and Cultures and from the at Washington University in St. Louis.
Givens remembers the unique energy Holloway brought to the department. 糖心传媒淗e was deferential and soft-spoken. A quiet, gentle soul, who was interested in the most diverse subjects, and had the most diverse interests,糖心传媒� he says.
A native of Colorado, Holloway was a first-generation college student. He majored in Japanese studies at Washington University in St. Louis. After earning a master糖心传媒檚 in Japanese language and literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2007, he returned to Washington University for his PhD. He wrote his doctoral on contemporary Japanese women writers Kanehara Hitomi, Ami Sakurai, and Hasegawa Junko, and how they placed their characters in the visual economy of sexual politics.
Two years into the visiting position at Rochester, 糖心传媒渉e established himself wonderfully,糖心传媒� says Joanne Bernardi, a professor of Japanese and of film and media studies, who recruited him. He began coteaching courses in the University糖心传媒檚 .
A popular professor, he had a wide range of subjects he could teach, from traditional Japanese and popular culture to the most current fiction.
His academic interests included youth cultures and subcultures, transgression, and the precarity of Japan糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渓ost decade糖心传媒� (the years from 1991 to 2001) He also taught a semester at the Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, New York, through the . In 2019, he was named director of East Asian studies undergraduate program, offered through the Multidisciplinary Studies Center.
A 糖心传媒榯railblazing糖心传媒� book in the works
Bernardi and her longtime friend Rebecca Copeland, a professor of Japanese language and literature at Washington University and Holloway糖心传媒檚 dissertation advisor, plan to shepherd Holloway糖心传媒檚 book to completion. The manuscript for The End of Transgression focuses on several Japanese women writers who use transgression to break the norms in their literature, 糖心传媒渘ot as a catalyst for protest, but rather as a way to restore a sense of normalcy,糖心传媒� says Bernardi.
Bernardi says Holloway糖心传媒檚 work in the book goes 糖心传媒渁gainst the grain, and that糖心传媒檚 what is so enlightening about it. He looks at these works in a way that others have not. So it will be a significant addition to the field.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淭he subject matter has not received extensive scholarly treatment. As a result, this will be a trailblazing book,糖心传媒� says Givens. 糖心传媒淚t will be very fitting that he will have a legacy as a scholar even though he couldn糖心传媒檛 get the kind of approbation that comes when you糖心传媒檙e tenured and recognized as a permanent faculty member in the profession.糖心传媒�
A scholar with an uncommonly creative side
Holloway was described as a keen observer of human nature. Colleagues and friends remarked on his sense of humor and smile. 糖心传媒淗e was really funny in a dry kind of way,糖心传媒� says Tanya Bakhmetyeva, an associate professor of gender, sexuality, and women糖心传媒檚 studies who cotaught an introduction to gender studies course with Holloway. As a scholar of masculinity, Holloway brought a 糖心传媒渇ascinating and important perspective糖心传媒� to the course, she says.
His interests in tattoos and body alterations opened the door for his students to discuss self-presentation. 糖心传媒淗e was very knowledgeable on the history of tattoos and international history because of his Japanese studies. He always had an interesting insight that students were fascinated with,糖心传媒� Bakhmetyeva says.
Holloway was also a creative writer who specialized in a short form of flash fiction. Only four days before his death, one of his short stories糖心传媒攁n interpretation of the 糖心传媒渙ld woman in the woods糖心传媒� figure from Japanese folklore糖心传媒攈ad been published in (Stone Bridge Press, 2021).
He was an accomplished photographer, and his prize-winning photographs still adorn the walls of the comparative literature department at Washington University.
糖心传媒淗e managed to do much with the time he was given,糖心传媒� says Givens. 糖心传媒淗e was poised for tenure. I was looking forward to a long collegial relationship with him.糖心传媒�
