Dr Regan Murphy Kao
Director, East Asia Library
Head of East Asia Library Special Collections
Curator for Japanese Collections
Subjects
As the Director of the East Asia Library, I oversee all aspects of the library, including access services, collection development and technical services for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English-language materials on East Asia. As the Head of the Special Collections at the East Asia Library, I facilitate collection building, preservation, and use of the rare and unique materials in Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. As Japanese Studies Librarian, I manage Japanese language materials and provide specialized research assistance for all aspects of Japanese studies. As a liaison to Stanford Japanese Studies faculty, students and community members, I consult with and respond to their teaching and research needs. I serve as co-chair of the Comprehensive Digitization and Discoverability task force, which aims to bring to light and make more accessible cutting edge technologies for Japanese studies. Before coming to Stanford, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley and received a PhD from Harvard with research focused on debates over the intersection of language, history and ritual in 18th century Japan. My love of libraries began during a formative year working at Starr East Asia Library in New York City soon after graduating from Columbia with a B.A. in East Asian Studies.
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Dr Regan Murphy Kao
Director, East Asia Library
Head of East Asia Library Special Collections
Curator for Japanese Collections
As the Director of the East Asia Library, I oversee all aspects of the library, including access services, collection development and technical services for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English-language materials on East Asia. As the Head of the Special Collections at the East Asia Library, I facilitate collection building, preservation, and use of the rare and unique materials in Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. As Japanese Studies Librarian, I manage Japanese language materials and provide specialized research assistance for all aspects of Japanese studies. As a liaison to Stanford Japanese Studies faculty, students and community members, I consult with and respond to their teaching and research needs. I serve as co-chair of the Comprehensive Digitization and Discoverability task force, which aims to bring to light and make more accessible cutting edge technologies for Japanese studies. Before coming to Stanford, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley and received a PhD from Harvard with research focused on debates over the intersection of language, history and ritual in 18th century Japan. My love of libraries began during a formative year working at Starr East Asia Library in New York City soon after graduating from Columbia with a B.A. in East Asian Studies.
Education
- Ph.D. Harvard University
- B.A. Columbia University
Professional activities
Association for Asian Studies
Council on East Asian Libraries
Council Member, North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC)
Member, Cooperative Collection Development Working Group, NCC
Selected publications
Murphy Kao, Regan E. "A Snapshot Model for Web Archiving: Stanford East Asia Library’s Japanese Web Archive" Current Awareness, No 336 (CA1930), June 20, 2018.
Murphy Kao, Regan E. "Bringing Women into the History of Edo Period Monastic Buddhism: A Study of a Forgotten Reformer" a review of The Princess Nun: Bunchi, Buddhist Reform, and Gender in Early Edo Japan (Harvard University Press, 2014), H-Shukyo, February 8, 2016.
Murphy Kao, Regan E. "From PhD to Librarian," Dissertationreviews.org, October 7, 2015.
“Japanese Souvenir Prints: Early Modern and Modern Representations of Travel Destinations,” presentation delivered at Beyond the Book: A Conference on Unique and Rare Primary Sources for East Asian Studies Collected in North America, Stanford University, July 1, 2015.
“Kokusaiteki akaibu-kan patonashippu no pawa” (The Power of Partnerships in International Archives), presentation delivered (in Japanese) at Kickoff Conference on Building of International Cyber Cooperation between Archives possessing Modern-East-Asian Historical Records, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan, December 9, 2014.
Murphy, Regan E. "Esoteric Buddhist Theories of Language in Early Kokugaku: the Soshaku of the Man'yo Daishoki," Critical Readings in the Intellectual History of Early Modern Japan, W. J. Boot, ed., Brill, 2012: p521-543.
Takagi Hiroshi. "Fabricating Antiquity in Modern Nara." Regan E. Murphy and John Breen trans., Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyusho, Kyoto University, Zinbun 2011 No. 43: p51-60.
Murphy, Regan E. "Sanskrit Studies in Early Modern Japan," in Esoteric Buddhism and Tantras in East Asia, Richard Payne, Charlie Orzech, and Henrik Sorensen, ed., Brill 2010.
Murphy, Regan E. "Esoteric Buddhist Theories of Language in Early Kokugaku: the Soshaku of the Man'yo Daishoki," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 36.1 (2009): p65-92.
Murphy, Regan E. Guest Editor, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, spring 2009 issue in honor of "Helen Hardacre and the Study of Japanese Religion."
Shimazono Susumu. "State Shinto in the Lives of the People: the Establishment of Emperor Worship, Modern Nationalism, and Shrine Shinto in Late Meiji," Regan E. Muphy trans., Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 36.1 (2009): p93-124.