2026 Farley Scholar explores intersections of queer and Japanese American history

We are pleased to welcome Greg Robinson to Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) as the 2026 Jack and Nancy Farley Distinguished Visiting Scholar in History. A professor of American history at l'Université du Québec À Montréal, Robinson's appointment will be hosted by the Department of History between January 1st and August 31st, 2026.

Robinson, a native New Yorker, is Professor of History at l'Université du Québec À Montréal. His expertise lies in transnational North American political and ethnic history, centering on Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians. 

During his residency with SFU FASS, Robinson will explore the intersection of queer and Japanese North American experiences through the 20th century. This is during a time which alternative sexuality was all but invisible in mainstream society, but evidence points to its existence among Japanese North Americans, predominantly among men. The project, "Striking Camp: Intersections of Queer and Japanese American History and Culture", will fill a sizable gap on the experiences of queer Japanese Americans in the history of sexuality, whom are largely absent from developing literature on the gay rights movement and same-sex marriage. 

"The Farley Fellowship will permit me time and leisure to do research and writing on this project. Vancouver is a treasure trove of research material on Japanese Canadians, and my residence at SFU would permit me access to indispensable archives for research on my project," says Robinson. "The Nikkei National Museum boasts one of the largest collections on Japanese Canadian history. Other locations with important materials include the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Public Library."

Robinson is a prolific author on the Japanese North American experience in the World War II era. His latest book, The Unknown Great: Stories of Japanese Americans at the Margins of History (University of Washington Press, 2024), co-written with Jonathan van Harmelen, is an anthology of news columns that delves into a range of themes from race and interracial relationships to sexuality, faith, and national identity.

His first monograph, By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Harvard University Press, 2001) ) traces the role of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in formulating and executing the wartime confinement of West Coast Japanese Americans, providing an in-depth account of the evolution of government policy. The book was voted a “Recommended Book for Understanding Civil Liberties” by the American Association of University Presses and has become a standard reference in studies of “Japanese internment”. His subsequent publications—A Tragedy of Democracy; Japanese Confinement in North America (Columbia University Press, 2009), After Camp: Portraits in Postwar Japanese Life and Politics (University of California Press, 2012), Pacific Citizens: Larry and Guyo Tajiri and Japanese American Journalism in the World War II Era (University of Illinois Press, 2012), and The Great Unknown: Japanese American Sketches (University Press of Colorado, 2016)—are critically received scholarly works. 

Robinson is also co-editor of the anthology Miné Okubo: Following Her Own Road (University of Washington Press, 2008) and co-editor of the volume John Okada - The Life & Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy (University of Washington Press, 2018). His historical column “The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great,” is a well-known feature of the Nichi Bei Weekly newspaper, the oldest Japanese American newspaper in Northern California. Robinson’s latest book is an anthology of his Nichi Bei columns and stories published on Discover Nikkei, The Unsung Great: Portraits of Extraordinary Japanese Americans (University of Washington Press, 2020). It was recognized with an Association for Asian American Studies Book Award for Outstanding Achievement in History Honourable Mention in 2022.

Robinson received his MA and PhD in American History from New York University, and a BA in History and French Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania.