He specializes in modern Japanese and East Asian history. He received his B.A. from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1996. He has been teaching at UC Santa Cruz since 1995 and was a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo from 2004 to 2006. He has two forthcoming books, one on the history of folk studies in Japan and one a translation of a two-volume study by one of Japan’s leading medieval historians, Amino Yoshihiko, called Rethinking Japanese History. Alan has taken an advising role within the ROUTES Project, primarily assisting student researchers in finding potential sources for stories.