He also teaches in the Program of Japanese Studies and in Environmental Studies. Obermiller received his M.A. from the University of Iowa in History and Asian Languages and Literature. In 2006, he recieved his Ph.D. from University of Iowa in History. He recently published an article titled "Dreaming Ryūkyū: Shifting and Contesting Identities in Okinawa" in Japan Since 1945: From Postwar to Post-Bubble (Bloomsbury Press, 2013)