Languages, Literatures, & Cultures
Dr. Takagi is a native speaker of Japanese. She received a Ph.D in English with a concentration in Postcolonial literature and theory from UNCG. She has been teaching Japanese language and culture courses at UNCG since 2000 and developed numerous courses including language courses, cultural studies courses, and a service-learning course. She also enjoys serving as the faculty advisor of J-Club (Japanese Club).
Dr. Takagi’s research is interdisciplinary and includes the fields of literature, film, history, and women’s and gender studies. Her scholarship is especially tied to cultural studies course syllabi she has designed and implemented. Examination of modern Japan’s cultural formation as found in literature and film provides the key framework for her research, and she focuses on the works of the Japanese fiction writer Haruki Murakami as her primary research subject. Her current research focuses on representation of cats in Japanese literature and film.
Dr. Takagi won the UNCG Alumni Teaching Excellence in 2013 and the American Association of Teachers of Japanese teaching award in 2014. She serves as the president of the Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese (2023-2024).