Japan and the World Conference

Conference Information:

Registration Form Travel Information Program Schedule

James L. Huffman has spent thirty years researching, writing and teaching about modern Japan at Wittenberg University.  As scholar, mentor, teacher, and colleague, he has advanced intellectual engagement with the history of Japan.  He has also consistently stressed the importance of moving the field of East Asian studies beyond the narrow confines of national histories.  Jim’s planned retirement in spring 2007 offers Wittenberg the opportunity to convene a group of East Asian scholars in 2006 to explore the legacy and promise of his work. 

The planned conference, “Japan and the World,” will begin on Friday, November 10, 2006, with a keynote address, by Pulitzer-prize winner, John Dower, who will set the cross-national tone with “Cultures of War:  Hiroshima, Nagasaki and 9-11.”  The conference will run Saturday, November 11, in non-concurrent sessions. We are asking for paper proposals that fit into the broad themes of the conference outlined below:

• Journalism and Media in Japan

• Japanese Imperialism

• People’s History of Japan    

We hope to provide some assistance to young scholars for travel to the conference, depending on the success of pending grant applications.  After the conference we hope to publish the papers in a special issue of a journal or as a book.