Alexander Bay

Assistant Professor of History, 2006.
bay@chapman.edu

B.A., Lewis and Clark College; M.A. University of Oregon; Ph.D., Stanford University

Alexander Bay is an assistant professor of history.  Growing up on a farm in rural Oregon, Alex Bay was headed for a career as a wildlife biologist until a fateful encounter with Asian culture (Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon) changed his life, creating an obsession with East Asian martial arts and a lifelong fascination with East Asia.  After attending Lewis and Clark College, he lived in Japan for three years, teaching English in Hachinohe and studying Japanese at the International Christian University.  He then entered the University of Oregon's Asian Studies master's program, using his MA degree as a springboard into the Ph.D. in history program at Stanford.  there, under guidance of the legendary Jeffrey Mass, Alex began course work in pre-1600 Japanese history and, later, the history of science, technology and medicine, writing a Ph.D. dissertation on the modernization of medicine in 19th and 20th century Japan through the lens of beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency).  Alex presented a paper at the May 2001 Columbia University symposium on animals in Japanese history entitled "The Swift Horses of Nukanobu: Bridging the Frontiers of Medieval Japan,"  which was published at the University of Michigan Press in JAPANimals: History and Culture in Japan's Animal Life (2005).  He has also contributed to medical biography encyclopedias and has published several short articles in the Journal of the Japan Society of Medical History.  Alex is currently working on a book project entitled The Politics of Disease:  Beriberi, Barley, and Medicine in Modern Japan.  

Alex is also active in several professional historical associations like the Association for Asian Studies, the Japan Society for the History of Medicine, and the History of Science Society annual meetings.  Alex's other interests consist of a life-long interest in martial arts.  He earned a black-belt in karate from the NW Japan Karate Federation Ryobukai headquarters in Oregon but his focus, ironically, shifted from Karate to Muay Thai or Thaiboxing.  After preliminary training at Yamaki Gym in Tokyo, he qualified for a professional kickboxing license in 1996 and fought under the ring-name of "Fugetsuryu."  Now he holds an Associate Instructorship from the Thaiboxing Association of the USA.  In addition to these pursuits, Alex enjoys rock climbing.  He is also a dedicated zymurgist:  His Scottish and pale ales are highly acclaimed.