Professor of Sociology, Adjunct & Research Affiliate, Institute for Aging and Lifelong Health, University of Victoria
Living and working in Japan, even for too short a time, offers a deeper insight into the country and enhanced my research as well as my life experiences.
Dr. McDaniel received a Japan Foundation fellowship in 2011 and conducted research out of Kyoto University, Kyoto.
My Japan Foundation Fellowship research built on my previous international comparative research on social policy regimes and trends across advanced economy countries. While based in Kyoto, I conducted interviews with various Ministries of the Government of Japan, and read their English-language publications on social policy and policy changes. I have pursued the research that the Japan Foundation enabled me to do with other countries and developed analytical frameworks that I and others have successfully applied to comparative policy research.
The Japan Foundation Fellowship was important for my career in two significant ways: 1) It enabled me to strengthen my research in having first-hand knowledge of policies in Japan; and 2) As or more importantly, the fellowship connected me with key colleagues and policy-makers, several of whom I maintain contact with. In fact, I shared a stage for a major conference on policies in Asia in Hanoi in Fall 2019 with my host from Kyoto University.
My favourite personal memory is the visit I paid to the Golden Temple in Kyoto. It was beautiful with a dash of snow on the temple and surroundings. My favourite professional memory is of the colleagues I met while at Kyoto U. In addition to the outstanding colleagues at the University, while I was there, there was an eminent visiting colleague from Seoul and one from Nanying Technological University in Singapore. It was a vibrant international experience.
I shall always be grateful to the Japan Foundation for awarding me this Fellowship. Living and working in Japan, even for too short a time, offers a deeper insight into the country and enhanced my research as well as my life experiences.
