Institutional Affiliation
Keio University, Faculty of Economics
Education
M.A, Sociocultural Anthropology, University of Kansas
Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, University of California Berkeley
Research Interests
John Ertl is an associate professor at Keio University in the faculty of economics where he teaches classes on Japanese studies, anthropology, cultural resource studies, and English language. His research is broadly based in science and technology studies and design anthropology.
For many years, Ertl has examined the interrelation between archaeological research and contemporary Japanese society, with a focus on the Jomon (Yoshida and Ertl 2016; Yoshida and Ertl, 2017). He has been interested in reconstructions of prehistorical architecture at archaeological site parks, having published an online database that document the variety and distribution of these buildings (Ertl 2021; Yoshida and Ertl 2021, 2022). Since 2019, Ertl has organized an archaeology field school at a Middle Jomon settlement site (Suwahara site, Hokuto City, Yamanashi) in collaboration with Morioka and Chuo Universities. The ethnographic aim of his research is to document and analyze the craftwork involved in the production of archaeological knowledge (Ertl and Yoshida 2020, 2021, 2023; Ertl, Yoshida, and Ikari 2022). As an archeological project, the aim is to reexamine the relation between research design, excavation methodology, community engagement, and the reconstruction of Jomon period pit dwellings. This excavation work has been done in companion with experimental reconstructions at Umenoki Archaeology Park in Hokuto City, Yamanashi (Ertl and Yoshida 2021).
As a visiting scholar at CU, Ertl will begin work on a new book project that describes a “cultural history” of Japanese archaeology, which examines the social-cultural settings in which archaeological research has been conducted and follow the ways that archaeological discoveries have stimulated the creation of new Japanese landscapes, communities, and creative enterprises in the postwar era.
Faculty Sponsor
Kathryn E. Goldfarb, Anthropology
Term at CU
John is currently a visiting scholar from September 2023 to September 2025