Biography

Wolfgang Schwentker is a German historian. Since 2002 he is a professor of Intellectual and Cultural History at the Institute for the Comparative Study of Civilizations at Ōsaka University. He studied history, literature and philosophy at the Universities of Düsseldorf and Bonn. In 1986 he received his Dr. phil. in history at the University of Düsseldorf. His current research subjects include Japanese history (from a comparative point of view), the life and work of Max Weber, and modern social and political thought.

Before being appointed at the Graduate School of Human Sciences at Ôsaka University Wolfgang was a senior lecturer in modern history at Düsseldorf University and a visiting fellow at Rikkyô University (Tōkyō, 1989-91, 1999), St Antony’s College (Oxford, 1991/92), Vienna University (2002) and the University of Constance (2009/10). As a visiting professor he taught modern history at Charles University Prague (1995/96), Hagen Open University (1996-98), and other universities.

Since 2012, Wolfgang is co-editing Fischer’s New World History (Neue Fischer Weltgeschichte). He is a member of the editorial board of the following journals: Max Weber Studies (London), International Political Anthopology (Cambridge/Milan) and Seiyô shigaku (Ōsaka). He also serves as an editorial board member of the book series: Japan in Ostasien (Heidelberg) and Expansion – Interaktion- Akkulturation (Vienna).