Education

• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellowship (2013-2015) American Philosophical Society Museum for research on their collection of 18 ^th century illustrated science books for children
• University of Pennsylvania, PhD, May 2012, Graduate School of Education (2006-2012) Dissertation title: Loosening the Ligatures of Text: Kamishibai (Paper Theater) in the Modal Ecologies of 21^st Century Classrooms
• Princeton University, BA, East Asian Studies/Comparative Literature Graduated Summa Cum Laude, June 1990 Completed Teachers Preparation Certification Program, January 2001
• Kyoto Sangyō University (Kyoto, Japan) Visiting Scholar, Institute for World Affairs, November 2012
• Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan) Ito Foundation Scholarship Research Fellow in Comparative Folklore Studies, 1993-94
• Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (Yokohama, Japan), 1987-88

Professional Experience

Publications

Books:

• Performing Kamishibai: An Emerging New Literacy for a Global Audience (Routledge Press, 2015)
• The Kamishibai Classroom: Engaging Multiple Literacies through the Art of “Paper Theater” (Linworth Libraries Unlimited, 2010)

Articles:

• “Whole Language Learning in Action: Cultivating a Cosmopolitan Perspective through the World Kamishibai Forum” Talking Points,  Volume 34, Issue 2, May 2023, p. 10 – 19
• Resilience in Media Ecologies Mapping the Converging Histories of Magic Lanterns, Omocha-e (Toy Prints) and Kamishibai (Paper Theater), The Asian Conference on Media, Communication & Film 2022 Official Conference Proceedings
• “Time Travels with Kamishibai: The Ongoing Adventures of a Magical Moving Medium,” Amfiteater, Journal of Performing Arts Theory, Vol. 7, No. 1, December, 2019
• “The Designs of Kawasaki Kyosen: Envisioning the Future of a Vanishing World through Toy Pictures (Omocha-e),” Princeton University Library Chronicle, Volume 64, No. 3, Spring, 2013
• Kamishibai no ronbunde hakase gō shūtoku (On getting a PhD with a dissertation about kamishibai) Kodomo no bunka (Journal of Children’s Culture), Vol. 3, 2013
• “Abstract Deictic Gestures-In-Interaction: A Barometer of Intersubjective Knowledge Development in Small-Group Discussion” Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, Vol. 25, No. 2, Fall, 2010.
• Tokushū: Hirogaru kamishibai no sekai (Special edition: The expanding world of kamishibai), Kodomo no bunka (Journal of Children’s Culture), Vol. 12, 2005.
• Afterword, The Kamishibai Man, picture book written and illustrated by Allen Say (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2005)
• Translated the chapter by novelist Haruki Murakami, “A Literary Comrade,” in Remembering Ray: A Composite Biography of Raymond Carver. Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1993

Online articles and blog posts:

• https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2019/08/educational-kamishibai/
• https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/category/japanese-childrens-books/
• https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2018/07/kamishibai/
• https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2018/02/omocha-e/
• https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2017/09/tanuki/

• “Integrating Kamishibai Performance across the Curriculum” http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/integrating-kamishibai-performance-across-the-curriculum
• “The Many Faces of Kamishibai (Japanese Paper Theater): Past, Present, and Future” http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/the-many-faces-of-kamishibai

Academic Conferences

Funding and Awards

• Japan Foundation of New York for “The World Kamishibai Forum” (2022-2023)
• Center for Global Partnership Grant for “The World Kamishibai Forum” (2020-2021)
• Horio Seishi Award from the Center for Research on Japanese Children’s Culture, Tokyo (July, 2017) for contributions to kamishibai storytelling and research
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellowship (September 2013-August 2015) American Philosophical Society Museum for research on their collection of 18 ^th century illustrated science books for children.
• The Reading/Writing/Literacy Book Award (May 2012) University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
• Friends of Princeton University Library Award (2011) for research conducted on the Cotsen Children’s Library’s collection of rare omocha-e (toy picture) prints
• Dean’s Scholarship (2006-2010) for doctoral course work at the University of Pennsylvania
• Commissioner’s Distinguished Teacher Candidate Award (2001) The State of New Jersey, Department of Education
• Ito Foundation Scholarship (1993-94) for study at Kyoto University.
• Japan Foundation Grant (1987-88) for study at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies

Teacher Workshops

• Rutgers University, International K-12 Books Course with Professor Marc Aronson, online seminar on kamishibai (2022-2024)
• Bibliothéque Municipale de Lyon online workshop “Empowering Seniors and Students with Special Needs Using the Unique Characteristics of Kamishibai” (November, 2023)
• Series of workshops with Pepe Cabana Kojachi, Diretor of Raymi Kamishibai, Lima, Peru (October-November, 2023)
• Indian Kamishibai Association, online workshop for teachers in India (February, 2022)
• Proyecto Kamishibai Peru online seminar for teachers (August, 2021)
• National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), virtual “Journey of East Asia: Adventures through Stories, Games, and Maps” (July 2021)
• Nunutsi! International Kamishibai Festival, Durango, Mexico (November, 2019)
• Alal! International Kamishibai Festival, Monterrey, New Mexico Kamishibai Workshop (September, 2017)
• Japan Society of New York Japan Across the Curriculum (November, 2014) Kamishibai as a Multimodal Literacy (March, 2012)
• Ohio State University, Institute for Japanese Studies (February, 2014) Connecting Kamishibai to the Core Curriculum State Standards
• International Reading Association (Phoenix, Arizona—February, 2009) The Art of Kamishibai: A “Multimodal” Literacy
• Japan Society in New York Kamishibai for Teaching Visual Literacy (October, 2007) Using Kamishibai to Teach about Japanese Festivals (August, 2005)
• NJEA TESOL Conference Kamishibai Techniques in the Bilingual Classroom (July, 2007)
• Susan J. Epply Summer Storytelling Institutes for Teachers, Princeton University Kamishibai as a Picture-Storytelling Form (July, 2007)
• Nara Prefectural Teacher’s College in Nara, Japan (presented in Japanese) Kamishibai in American Classrooms (July, 2005)

Performances and Events

• III Festival Internacional de Kamishibai (Santiago, Chile)—Featured storyteller (online) (January, 2024)
• Zenkoku Kamishibai Matsuri (National Kamishibai Festival, Kawagoe, Japan)—Featured Storyteller and Presenter on the World Kamishibai Forum (August, 2023)
• National Storytelling Network Conference Showcase, “Connecting the World through Kamishibai.” virtual (July 2021)
• Co-organized and performed in “The World Kamishibai Forum,” virtual year-long series (2020-21) https://writeoutloudeducation.weebly.com/world-kamishibai-forum.html
• Nu Nutsi! International Kamishibai Festival, Durango, Dgo. (November, 2019)
• Zenkoku Kamishibai Taikai (National Kamishibai Festival, Yamagata, Japan) Featured Storyteller (September, 2019)
• Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, “Tanabata Festival,” (Summer, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
• International Symposium: “The Art of Kamishibai: The Word of the Image and the Image of the Word.” Invited presenter. Ljubljana, Slovenia. (May, 2018)
• VI International Festival of Kamishibai and oral narrators, Alhii Durango, Mexico (April, 2018)
• Alal! International Kamishibai Festival, Monterrey, Mexico Weeklong series of storytelling events throughout the city (September, 2017)
• Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Hello from Japan! (January and May, 2015) Featured artist and storyteller to present interactive workshop for children 5 and older. 
• County College of Morris 8 ^th Annual Storytelling Festival of World Music and Story (March, 2014) Featured storyteller.
• American Philosophical Society Museum (Fall, 2013) “What Cornelius Varley Saw,” an original kamishibai performance developed in conjunction with the Exhibition: “Through the Looking Lens: Cornelius Varley’s Wondrous Images of Art and Science, 1800-1860” (Fall, 2013)
• Princeton University, Firestone Library (December, 2012) “Truly Grimm: An Afternoon of Storytelling with Susan Danoff and Tara McGowan” in Honor of the Bicentenary of the Grimm Brothers’ Kinder-und Hausmarchen
• American Museum of Natural History in New York (March, 2012) Cherry Blossom Festival
• PBS TV series “Great Libraries of the World” (Program 108) Cotsen Children’s Library Featured as a storyteller and Japan scholar (2011)
• Storytelling Center of New York and African American Folk Heritage Association (November, 2008) Featured Storyteller for Tellebration
• Nobatake Library in Osaka, Japan (July, 2008) Presented on teaching English through storytelling, mostly in Japanese
• Minoh Kamishibai Festival, Minoh City, Japan (July, 2005 and 2008) Performed my own original kamishibai stories in Japanese
• Japan Society of New York (July, 2005 and 2007) Led a troupe of children kamishibai performers between ages of 7 and 15, who performed their original kamishibai stories for Children’s Day
• Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (October, 2005) Presented on Japanese ghosts in conjunction with their Japanese print exhibition
• Kamakura City Community Center, Kamakura, Japan (July, 2005) Demonstrated participatory storytelling techniques in Japanese
• Princeton University Art Museum (March, 2005) Presenting stories and stone rubbings from the Wu Liang Funerary Shrine
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Brooklyn Children’s Museum (April, 2004) Developed a series of storytelling events based on their exhibition “Japan and the Seasons”
• S. Dillon Ripley Center, Smithsonian in Washington, DC (May, 2004) Presented Balinese folktales in conjunction with a talk on “Bali: Indonesia’s Hindu Realm”

Languages and Technical Skills

• Japanese, fluent in speaking and reading; Norwegian, intermediate level
• Microsoft Office, Photoshop, iMovie, Omeka, FilemakerPro