In Memoriam: Karen Brazell (1938-2012)

Karen Brazell, the Goldwin Smith Graduate Professor Emerita of Japanese Literature and Theater at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, died earlier this month in an Ithaca hospital. She was 73 years old.

Professor Brazell was the chair of the department of Asian studies at Cornell from 1977 to 1982 and was director of the East Asia studies program from 1987 to 1991. In 1998 she became the founding director of the Global Performing Arts Consortium, a multilingual digital archive for global performance traditions.

Her first book, The Confessions of Lady Nijo, published in 1983, was honored with a National Book Award. Dr. Brazell held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.