Yasunobu Ito Associate Professor
School of Knowledge Science（Department of Knowledge Science・Social Knowledge）

■Degrees

Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, Kyushu University(2005)

■Professional Career

Research Fellow, The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (2001-2003)， Lecturer, Oita Prefectural College of Arts and Culture (2003-2005)， Coresearcher, The National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka (2003-2010)， Visiting research fellow, Department of Sociology and Centre for Science Studies, Lancaster University, UK.(2011)， Honorary Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, University College London, UK.(2011-)

■Specialties

Cultural Anthropology (Anthropology of Knowledge), Sociology of Knowledge

■Research Keywords

Anthropology of Knowledge, Sociology of Knowledge, Anthropology of Science and Technology,

■Research Interests

Anthropology of Knowledge, application of qualitative research method (anthropological fieldwork and ethnography), indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge
Our Lab is: 　adopting an ethnographic (qualitative) research approach, considering human knowledge as "always already" situated and embedded in the social, cultural, and historical context, we investigate (a) the process of generation of knowledge, (b) the process of creativity of knowledge, and (c) the diversity of knowledge, with a particular attention to its dynamic characteristics.　／Ongoing projects: 　Anthropological study of the knowledge of indigenous people in the third and fourth world. (with the collaboration of scholars from New Zealand); Comparative research on the generation and creation of scientific knowledge at Biotechnology labs in universities in Japan. (with the collaboration of scholars in the School of Material Science of JAIST); Ethnographic/Usability study of devices, tools and systems (e.g. digital clinical charts, patients' case records in the medical workplace in hospitals).

■Publications

◇Published Papers

‘On Maori Studies as a discipline and its differentiation: from the viewpoint of social systems theory’，ITO, Yasunobu，The Journal of New Zealand Studies (NZSSJ)，Volume 11，2004

◇Lectures and Presentations

'Ingenuity Sub Rosa: Medical information, technology and work practice in a Japanese hospital'，ITO, Yasunobu，Medical Anthropology seminar, Department of Anthropology, University College London, 19 Jan 2012.
'Applications of Ethnography in Japanese Business: observations on the relationship between anthropology and the outside'，Yasunobu ITO，International Symposium on Japanese Studies“The Quest For Modernity in Japan”Bucharest, 3 March, 2013，University of Bucharest
'Does Ethnography Mean Business in Japan?: The appropriation of the anthropological method in the industrial realm'，Yasunobu ITO，Contemporary Ethnography Across the Disciplines Hui, University of Waikato, 21 November 2012，University of Waikato

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■Extramural Activities

◇Academic Society Affiliations

European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS)，member，2011-
American Anthropological Association (AAA)，member，2009-
The Japan Society for Science Policy and Research Management，member，2006-