Dr Mark Pendleton (he/him)

I am a historian of modern and contemporary Japan who has worked at Sheffield since 2012. I moved to the UK from my home country of Australia, where I completed a PhD in history at the University of Melbourne. I have also spent several years living, studying and working in Japan, including a year at a Japanese high school, one at a Japanese university as an undergraduate, and 18 months as a doctoral researcher.

Over the course of my career to date, I have researched a range of topics relating to 20th and early 21st century Japan, including doctoral research on victims of political violence/terrorism, modern and contemporary industrial ruins, coal mining history and heritage, queer cultures, the history of HIV and AIDS, and representations of the above topics in various media and literature.

I also have a strong interest in contemporary art practice and have worked with a number of UK institutions and events to showcase artists from Japan (and wider East Asia), particularly those working with feminist and queer approaches.

I have held visiting positions at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Aoyama Gakuin University and the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies in Japan, as well as a number of international institutions including New York University and Sapienza University of Rome.

I am also an active trade unionist and from June 2026 am seconded part-time to the University and College Union (UCU) to take up a national elected role as the Vice President for Higher Education, becoming UCU President in 2029-30.