Danica Truscott is a scholar of premodern Japanese literature who specializes in works from the early and classical periods (710-1185). She received her Ph.D. in 2022 from UCLA’s Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Dr. Truscott also holds an A.M. from the Regional Studies–East Asia program at Harvard University (2014) and a B.A. in Japanese Language from UC Berkeley (2011). Before joining EALC, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies between 2022 and 2023.

Dr. Truscott’s general research interests include women’s literary history, gender performance, and the reception and translation of premodern texts in Japan and abroad. Her current book project is a feminist rereading of Japan’s oldest poetic anthology, the Man’yōshū (Collection for a Myriad Ages, late eighth century), that centers its most represented woman poet, Lady Sakanoue. Using a reading methodology inspired by concepts from narrative studies, Dr. Truscott demonstrates Sakanoue’s pivotal role in transmitting both the literary legacy of her family, the ancient warrior-turned-noble Ōtomo lineage, as well as the broader poetic culture of Nara period (710-794) Japan.

In addition to introductory courses for Classical Japanese and Kanbun, Dr. Truscott offers an advanced-level Classical Japanese course and a class that brings together texts written in both linguistic forms at EALC.