Kurtis Hanlon

Kurtis Hanlon’s research is on the intersection of literary and ludic cultures in premodern Japan, especially games that included poetry. His dissertation on uta-awase (poetry matching) of the Heian period (790–1185) examined a variety of matches that were odd in some way, analyzing the rules and poems to determine why they were played the way they were. Research interests include kyokusui no en, renga, hyakunin isshu karuta, and hanafuda.

His passion for teaching is influenced by his research into games and he designs his courses around increasing student agency in how they demonstrate mastery of the skill-based learning objectives of the course. He uses what he has termed “gamified grading,” where students choose assignments that are most engaging for them in order to reach their grade goal. This year he will be teaching literary Japanese (bungo) as well as courses about canonic literature, such as The Tale of Genji.

Before joining the department, he was a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia, where he earned his PhD in the Asian Studies department. He also holds an MA from Kyushu University in Japanese Humanities, and a BA from UCLA in Japanese. He attended the Inter-University Center for Japanese Research in Yokohama for their ten-month program. He has been teaching in some form or another for 20 years and is truly invested in addressing the non-cognitive factors that lead to student success in the classroom.

Kurtis is also an amateur baker and frequently brings surplus treats into the office.

Office hours:

Monday 2:30pm-3:30pm, Friday 10:30am-11:30am or by appointment.