Assistant Professor of Japanese and Japanese Program Coordinator
World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Office
Willard-DiLoreto Hall
D403-08
Biography
Matthew Chudnow is an Assistant Professor of Japanese and the Japanese Program Coordinator at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), where he teaches courses on Japanese language, cultural history, and socio-religious topics. His primary research focuses on interdisciplinary analysis of female soteriology in Muromachi period Noh theater. He also works on the history and development of traditional Japanese martial arts, especially their religious, political, and intercultural aspects.
Prof. Chudnow is committed to international exchange through Japanese language and culture. He was an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) with the JET Program (CLAIR/MEXT) in Kyōtabane City, Kyōto Japan (2002-2005). He has also worked in the government sector at the Japan Information Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan, Washington DC (2008-2010). Prof. Chudnow has acted as an official JET Program interviewer for Northeast Regional finalists since 2023. He was also recipient of a Kakehashi Project grant from the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) and assisted in guiding seven CCSU Japanese Minors on a fully funded Japan study trip to Tokyo and Matsuyama City, Ehime prefecture from March 7-15, 2024. Prof. Chudnow also is an affiliated faculty member of Central's Asian American, Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAAPI) Center, the faculty supervisor for the Japanese Language Learning Club (JLLC), and a member of the Japan Society of Greater Hartford.
Please contact mchudnow@ccsu.edu for inquiries on the Japanese Program and the Japanese Minor in World Language at Central.
Education
Areas of Expertise
- Noh theater and traditional Japanese performance traditions.
- Japanese cultural history (classical, medieval, and modern).
- Classical and medieval Japanese literature.
- Japanese martial arts in socio-political and religious context.
- Buddhism, shamanism, and ritual in Japan and East Asia.
- Topics and problems related to Japanese colonialism and militarism.
- Gender studies in premodern and modern Japan and East Asia.
- Japanese language pedagogy (contemporary and classical).
- Japanese sacred art.
Publications, Research & Presentations
Recent Publications
“The Dynamics of Nyōnin jōbutsu in Zenchiku’s Yōkihi: Honzetsu, Poetic Allusion, and Sacred Space.” in Carolina Negri, ed. Images from the Past: Intertextuality in Japanese Premodern Literature, Ca’ Foscari University Press, Venice: 2022.
Recent Presentations
"Mechanisms for Female Enlightenment within Konparu Zenchiku’s Nonomiya.” Research discussed at New Directions in Noh Theater Studies workshop at the University of Pittsburgh, June 9-11, 2024.
“Karma and Attachment: the Dramaturgy of Denied Enlightenment in Zenchiku’s Nonomiya (Shrine of the Fields).” Presentation for panel Gender and Theatricality in Premodern Japanese Performance at 2023 Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference in Boston, March 16-19, 2023.
“The Dynamics of Nyōnin jōbutsu in Zenchiku’s Yōkihi: Honzetsu, Poetic Allusion, and Sacred Space.” Presented at Images from the Past: Intertextuality in Japanese Premodern Literature conference at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, February 5, 2021.
“Mechanisms for Female Enlightenment within Zenchiku’s Tamakazura.” Presented at the Buddhism and Ritual Performance in Pre-Modern Japan conference at McGill University, September 9, 2018.
Awards & Grants
Recent
Kakehashi Project Recipient, Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), 2024.
Social Science Research Council/Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Long Term (24 Month) Fellowship Program, (deferred due to teaching commitments), 2023.
Central Connecticut State University Academic Enrichment Grant, 2022.
Fulbright Graduate Research Fellow Scholarship plus Fulbright 3-Month Extension, Project: “Soteriology in the Female Spirit Noh of Konparu Zenchiku,” Nogami Memorial Noh Theater Institute, Hōsei University, Japan. September 1, 2013-November 28, 2014.
Memberships & Affiliations
American Academy of Religion (AAR).
American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ).
Association of Asian Studies (AAS).
Courses Taught
Japanese Language
Japanese 111: Elementary Japanese I (2 sections, Fall).
Japanese 112: Elementary Japanese II (Spring).
Japanese 125: Intermediate Japanese I (Fall).
Japanese 126: Intermediate Japanese II (Spring).
Japanese 225: Intermediate Japanese III (Fall).
Japanese 226: Intermediate Japanese IV (Spring).
Humanities
Humanities 100-01: East Asian Humanities (Spring).
Humanities 100-04: Japan in the World (Fall).
Humanities/International Studies 230-02: Development of Japanese Martial Arts (Spring).
Please email mchudnow@ccsu.edu for information on the Japanese Minor in the department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.