ABOUT

Sami Mosher is a third-year Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona majoring in medieval Japanese religion. Her current research interests are Japanese religious studies, history, and literature, focusing on the twelfth-century Hell Scrolls and the roles of oni (ogres; demons) in Buddhist hell cosmology. Her hobbies include imbibing copious amounts of caffeine, drawing,
reading, playing online games with her spouse, and spending time with her three, needy cats.

She first became interested in Japanese religion while studying abroad in Japan at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, taking classes in Buddhism and Shinto. Upon receiving her bachelor’s
degree at Weber State University, she joined the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and worked as an English teacher in Shimane Prefecture for two years. She then moved to Tochigi prefecture to teach business English at Mitsubishi FUSO for a 6-month contract and later at Sano Nihon University for a year teaching courses like English composition and grammar.
Upon returning to the United States, she completed her master’s degree at the University of Utah majoring in East Asian studies while simultaneously certifying for the Japanese Language
Proficiency Test (JLPT) at the N2 level. After this, she taught Japanese language as an adjunct lecturer at Weber State University and Salt Lake Community College for about two years until
she was accepted to the University of Arizona PhD program in East Asian Studies.