Bio

As the Director of the East Asia Library, I oversee all aspects of the library, including access services, collection development, special collections and technical services for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English-language materials on East Asia. I started at Stanford Libraries as the Japanese Studies Librarian in 2012 and became the Head of Special Collections a few years later. Before joining Stanford, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at U.C. Berkeley and received a PhD from Harvard with research focused on debates over the intersection of language, history and ritual in 18th century Japan. My love of libraries began during a formative year working at Starr East Asia Library in New York City soon after graduating from Columbia with a B.A. in East Asian Studies.

Current Role at Stanford

Director, East Asia Library

Contact

  • Academic
    reganmk@stanford.edu
    University - Academic staff Department: East Asia Library Position: Director, East Asia Library

Additional Info

All Publications

  • Playing a Critical Role in Achieving a Bigger Goal Asia Now Murphy Kao, R. 2021
  • A Snapshot Model for Web Archiving: Stanford East Asia Library’s Japanese Web Archive Current Awareness Murphy Kao, R. 2018
  • Preserving the ephemeral: reflections on archiving Japanese websites Stanford Libraries Blog Murphy Kao, R. 2017
  • “Bringing Women into the History of Edo Period Monastic Buddhism: A Study of a Forgotten Reformer” a review of The Princess Nun: Bunchi, Buddhist Reform, and Gender in Early Edo Japan (Harvard University Press, 2014) H-Shukyo Murphy Kao, R. 2016
  • From PhD to Librarian Dissertation Reviews (DR) Murphy Kao, R. 2015
  • Esoteric Buddhist Theories of Language in Early Kokugaku: the Soshaku of the Man'yo Daishoki Critical Readings in the Intellectual History of Early Modern Japan Murphy, R. E. edited by Boot, W. J. Brill. 2012: 521-543
  • Fabricating Antiquity in Modern Nara, translated by R. E. Murphy and J. Breen Zinbun Takagi, H., Murphy (translation), R., Breen (translation), J. 2011; 43: 51-60
  • Sanskrit Studies in Early Modern Japan Esoteric Buddhism and Tantras in East Asia Murphy, R. E. edited by Payne, R., Orzech, C., Sorensen, H. Brill. 2010
  • State Shinto in the Lives of the People: the Establishment of Emperor Worship, Modern Nationalism, and Shrine Shinto in Late Meiji, translated by R. E. Murphy Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 36.1 (2009): p93-124. Shimazono, S., Murphy (translation), R. 2009; 36 (1): 93-124
  • Esoteric Buddhist Theories of Language in Early Kokugaku: the Soshaku of the Man'yo Daishoki Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Murphy, R. E. 2009; 36 (1): 65-92
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3277-4778