About John Traphagan

John W. Traphagan, Ph.D. is Professor and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also a professor in the Program in Human Dimensions of Organizations. Traphagan received his BA in political science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, MAR in social ethics from Yale University, and PhD in social anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of numerous articles and books related to Japanese culture including Taming Oblivion: Aging Bodies and the Fear of Senility in Japan (SUNY Press, 2000) and The Practice of Concern: Ritual, Well-Being, and Aging in Rural Japan (Carolina Academic Press, 2004), and his most recent book entitled Cosmopolitan Rurality, Depopulation, and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in 21st Century Japan (Cambria Press, 2020). He also publishes regularly on the ethics and culture of space exploration. His work has appeared in journals such as Space Policy and The International Journal of Astrobiology and his most recent book in that area is Science, Culture, and the Search for Life on Other Worlds (Springer, 2016).