Marr Appointed to U.S.-Japan Network for the Future

FIU faculty member Matthew Marr has been selected to attend the meeting of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future this week in Washington, D.C.

Marr was one of 15 emerging Japan specialists selected for the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future, a new program launched
last year by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in collaboration with the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.  The purpose of this program is to build and enhance a network of new generation Japan specialists that can bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the U.S.-Japan policymaking process.  U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows will serve as a valuable resource for U.S. policymakers as the U.S. and Japan move toward a more open and inclusive alliance.

Marr is an assistant professor of sociology for the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies in the School of International and Public Affairs at FIU. His research interests include inequality, poverty and social exclusion in urban areas of Japan and the United States. He is focused on poverty in Japan and the United States from a global, comparative perspective, looking at the effects of settings of social service delivery, mental health policy, gentrification and increased policing in areas where homeless persons and services for them concentrate. Marr began his studies in Japanese at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, Calif. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1993 with degrees in government and Japanese Studies, and spent two years studying Japanese language and culture in Nagoya. He earned his M.A. degree in sociology from Howard University in 1997 and has worked with community based organizations to address homelessness and poverty in Los Angeles and Tokyo. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007, with a focus on ethnographic research methods and social stratification.  From 2007-2008, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies.

During this week’s meeting in Washington, D.C., Marr and the other U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows will meet with senior policymakers and participate in briefings about current issues affecting U.S.-Japan relations. The  U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows also will participate in workshops and a study trip to Japan during the two-year program.  They will help shape public policy by preparing opinion pieces and by sharing their views and recommendations at a public Policy Brief Session in early 2011.  These and other activities are expected to lead to deeper and more vigorous dialogue and research on topics of immediate concern to U.S.-Japan relations, as well as on ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship through cooperation and shared goals in the global arena.  A list of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows and more information about the program is available on the Mansfield Foundation’s website, www.mansfieldfdn.org.

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that promotes understanding and cooperation in United States-Asia relations. Maureen and Mike Mansfield’s values, ideals and vision for United States-Asia relations continue through the Foundation’s exchanges, dialogues, research and educational programs, which create networks among American and Asian leaders, explore the underlying issues influencing public policies, and increase awareness about the nations and peoples of Asia.  The Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C.; Tokyo, Japan; and Missoula, Mont.

The Center for Global Partnership is a part of the Japan Foundation, which is a Japanese Independent Administrative Institution (Dokuritsu Gyosei Hojin). To enhance dialogue and interchange between Japanese and American citizens on a wide range of issues, the center operates grant programs as well as self-initiated projects and fellowships. The center has offices in Tokyo, Japan and New York City.