Paul Barclay
Professor of History and Chair of Asian Studies
Degrees
- Ph.D., University of Minnesota
- M.A., University of Minnesota
- B.S., University of Wisconsin
Special interests: Japanese empire; East Asian history; Indigenous Studies; Easton history
Barclay is a native of Zion, Illinois. Before matriculating at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his B.S. in Secondary Education, he was the night manager of a Mexican-food restaurant, a diesel-truck fuel attendant, apprentice bricklayer, and electric guitarist. On hiatus from university, Barclay tutored the Kuwaiti ambassador to Morocco’s children, and backpacked across Europe. After obtaining his teacher’s license, he worked as an English instructor in Chiba, Japan. In graduate school, his research on Japanese imperialism brought him to libraries, archives, classrooms, and informal gathering places throughout Taiwan and Japan. He lives with his wife Naoko Ikegami in Easton, Pennsylvania, at the fork of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers.