International and Area Studies

University Libraries’ International and Area Studies department offers materials about world regions in vernacular languages and in English.

Our librarians and staff are fluent in more than 25 languages. International and Area Studies at University Libraries forms the premiere international studies collection in the state of Ohio and includes materials that support the work of the university’s international and area studies centers, as well as Ohio State’s languages, literatures and cultures departments.

International and Area Studies includes:


Eric Johnson sits at a desk surrounded by stacks of paper and books.
Eric Johnson, Interim Head of Area Studies and Thompson Library Special Collections

Head of Area Studies

Eric Johnson is the Interim Head of Area Studies and Thompson Library Special Collections. He supports the work of Area Studies and Special Collections in strategic collection building, focused patron services and purposeful programming and outreach. He also serves as the curator of the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library.


Guoqing Li, Chinese and Korean Studies Librarian
Guoqing Li, Chinese and Korean Studies Librarian

Chinese and Korean Studies

The Chinese Collection can be traced back to 1960-61 when the first course in Chinese Language was offered in the Division of Linguistics. We have collected selectively and systematically in the general humanities, and in social sciences including political science, sociology, anthropology and education. The collection is strong in basic reference works, Chinese literature and linguistics, and Chinese history (especially local gazetteers). It is the largest collection in Ohio. Users have access to over 150,000 books and many current periodicals, databases, streaming media and indices.

The Korean Collection focuses primarily on language and culture. It supports teaching and research with about 6,000 books and current periodicals, databases, streaming media and indices.

Guoqing Li is the Chinese Studies and Korean Studies librarian and Professor. He provides reference and research consultations on Chinese, Korean and international resources for students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars, and the public.

Guoqing Li represents University Libraries as liaison to the Department of the East Asian Languages and Literature and the East Asian Studies Center.


Ann Marie L. Davis, PhD, MLS, Japanese Studies Librarian
Ann Marie L. Davis, PhD, MLS, Japanese Studies Librarian

Japanese Studies

With roughly 150,000 volumes, the Japanese Studies collection at Ohio State ranks among the largest in North America. Its world-class Japanese comics (manga) holdings include over 12,000 circulating volumes of Japanese and English language manga as well as rare and historical manga, housed at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. Additional collection strengths include materials in art history; visual and popular culture; company histories (shashi); and natural and human disaster.

Dr. Ann Marie Davis is the Japanese Studies librarian and Associate Professor at Ohio State.  A trained historian and former teaching faculty, she is passionate about research and instruction in and with special collections. In addition to reference and research support in Japanese Studies, she provides consultations on tools and methods for digital scholarship in East Asian Studies.

Davis represents University Libraries as liaison to the Department of the East Asian Languages and Literature and the East Asian Studies Center (EASC) and actively supports and collaborates with EASC, the Institute for Japanese Studies (IJS), and over two dozen Japan specialists from departments across the university. She also serves as faculty program member for the Interdisciplinary EAS MA Program, and she holds a courtesy faculty appointment with the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature (DEALL).


Eastern European and Slavic Studies

University Libraries holds one of the largest East European and Slavic (EES) Studies collections in the world.

The EES collection consists of over 1,202,000 volumes, microforms, serial titles, journals and online resources from and about the region. These collections are vital to the research, teaching and learning of Ohio State faculty, students and all who seek to understand this complex region.

The collection supports scholars of Russian, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Slovak studies, research on former states (Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia), as well as comparative and cross-disciplinary inquiry into the entire region of Central Europe, Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, Baltic States, (Soviet) Central Asia and the Balkans. The collection covers the broad area of the humanities and social sciences, reflecting the diverse interests of scholars and students.

The collection is managed by Miroljub Ruzic, coordinator and subject specialist for East European and Slavic Studies, History of Christianity, Religious Studies, French Language and Literature, Classical and Modern Greek. Ruzic provides research services in different Slavic and other languages (Albanian, Armenian, Belorussian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Church Slavic, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Galician, Georgian, Greek, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Moldavian, Montenegrin, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic, Serbo-Croatian Roman, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian).

The Hilandar Research Library, one of the Thompson Library Special Collections, is the largest collection of medieval Slavic manuscripts on microform in the world. Its holdings include a 10,000 volume reference collection and archival collections related to Slavic and East European studies. Languages represented include many of those listed above. Mary-Allen Johnson is the Curator of the Hilandar Research Library and the Director of the Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies.


Joseph Galron, Jewish Studies Librarian
Joseph Galron, Jewish Studies Librarian

Hebraica and Jewish Studies

The Hebraica and Jewish Studies collection includes books, periodicals, microform and video on the history of the Jewish communities around the globe with a rich collection of Hebrew and Yiddish literature and research materials.

The collection includes Hebrew language and literature, Jewish history from the Biblical period to the 21st century, the Jewish Holocaust, Jewish Religion, Jewish history in Israel and in the Jewish Diaspora, history of Zionism and history of the State of Israel.

The collection also covers the Land of Israel (Palestine), including geography, nature, archaeology, natural resources, agriculture and the population. An Ancient Near East collection (Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Syria) is also under development.

Joseph Galron is the Jewish Studies Librarian and Liaison to the Germanic Languages Department. He develops the collections while assisting students and faculty with finding material for their research and teaching. Joseph also provides bibliographical assistance and guidance to faculty and students.


Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros, Latin American Studies Librarian
Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros, Latin American Studies Librarian

Latin American Studies

The Latin American, Hispanic, Spanish and Portuguese Collection at Ohio State is among the largest of such collections in the Midwest. Books, journals, documentaries and films are available in over 11 non-English languages, with Quechua representing the collection's largest indigenous language holdings. Users also have access to over 200 current periodicals, databases, streaming media and indices.

Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros is the Latin American Studies Librarian and Assistant Professor. She provides reference and research consultations on Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Studies and international resources for students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars and the public.

She represents University Libraries as liaison to the Department of the Spanish and Portuguese, Center for Latin American Studies and the Latino/a Studies Program.



Magda El-Sherbini, Middle East and Islamic Studies Librarian
Magda El-Sherbini, Middle East & Islamic Studies Librarian

Middle East and Islamic Studies

The Middle East and Islamic Studies collection contains over 150,000 books on the history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa from the 7th Century A.D. to the present. Books, journals, documentaries and films are available in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Western languages, as well as Urdu and Hindi languages. Users also have access to specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries, academic and popular journals from and about the Middle East as well as bibliographic tools.

Magda El-Sherbini is the Middle East and Islamic Studies Librarian and a professor at Ohio State. She provides instructions, reference and research consultations on Middle Eastern studies and international resources for students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars and the public from across the university and around the world.

She represents University Libraries as liaison to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and the Center for Middle East Studies.