Teacher Profiles
KUSUNOKI, Yoshihiko Professor (European Early Modern History)
Research topic
This research examines the relationship between the state and society in early modern Britain, using witch hunts and the enforcing of the state religion as concrete examples.
Research Topics
Consider history and understand unconscious human behavior.
It has become clear that human language and behavior are largely determined by environmental factors. This is not limited to natural environmental factors such as wealth, crop yields, economic conditions, and climate. I am working on considering historical events within the framework of thought foundations and directions, such as paradigms and epistemes. This is not pure intellectual history, but rather social history in a broad sense. Specifically, I am considering witch hunts in early modern Europe, the English Reformation, and historical source analysis as clues. As one approach, I previously used computer-based text mining. Currently, there is a global trend called digital humanities. I am paying close attention to the emergence of generative AI in 2023, as I believe it will significantly change the methods of historical research.
Examples of analyzing document data using text mining.
Examples of graduation thesis titles from the Kusunoki Seminar
- "Hans Baldung Green and the Image of Women in 16th Century Society"
- "A Consideration of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake"
Recent works
- "The Formation and Transformation of Recusants in the Elizabethan Era," *The Birth of History and Identity*, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 2005.
- "The Act Prohibiting Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Reign," *Studies in Western History*, New Series No. 17, pp. 57-78, 1988.
- "Bishops in England's Enforcement of the Church of England: An Examination of the 1577 National Survey Report of Protestants," *History and Geography (Tohoku Gakuin University Journal)*, 33, 2000.
