Summary
Current status: Ph.D. in progress
Ph.D. dissertation title: Between piety and popularity: cultural code-switching and Muslim migrant communities in Japan
M.A. thesis title: Currents of Consumption: How National Narratives of Japanese Cuisine Collide with Localized Forms of Sushi in Northern California.
John Ostermiller is a fourth-year cultural anthropology Ph.D. student focused on how Muslims and Muslim migrants navigate their religious convictions in non-Muslim majority societies. For his dissertation John is investigating how Muslims engage in "cultural code-switching," or how Muslims present religious practices and beliefs as "custom" and "culture" in certain circumstances to appeal to the sensibilities of a non-Muslim majority. John recently completed his qualifying exams and is preparing to submit his prospectus. John has been a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Instructor of Record for the Department of Anthropology, and will be a Graduate Writing Consultant for the University's Writing and Speaking Center for the 2022 - 2023 academic year. His research is supported in part by the Ozmen Institute's Graduate Student Research Grant as well as the Department of Anthropology's Cultural & Linguistic Anthropology Graduate Promise Award.
Academic interests
- Migrant Muslim communities in Japan
- Secularism and religion (Islam)
- Cosmetic multiculturalism and media representation
- Minorities, migration, and marginalization
- Japan and the Asia-Pacific region
Selected publications
- Ostermiller, John. 2018. “ Currents of Consumption: How National Narratives of Japanese Cuisine Collide with Localized Forms of Sushi in Northern California.” Capstone. Master of Asia-Pacific Studies Program, USF.
- Ostermiller, John. 2017. “Transcendent Pandemonium: Reconnecting (the Americanization of) Yokai Watch with its roots in Japanese folklore.” Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2017. 11 (1): 92-99.
Education
- M.A., Asia-Pacific studies, University of San Francisco, 2018
- B.A., anthropology, California State University Sacramento, 2013