Nov. 7, 2006
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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – An academic conference titled, “ Japan and the World” will be held at Wittenberg University on Nov. 10-11 in honor of the retirement of H. Orth Hirt Professor of History James L. Huffman. A Japanese historian, Huffman has been a member of the Wittenberg faculty since 1977.
Organized by Wittenberg Associate Professor of History Tammy Proctor and Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the East Asian Studies Program Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, the conference will bring together East Asian scholars to “explore the legacy and promise of [Huffman’s] work.”
“We hope to bring scholars from around the world together,” Proctor said.
The two-day event begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, with the William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture in History featuring Ford International Professor of History at MIT, Japanese scholar and author John Dower. Dower, author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning book Embracing Defeat, will make a presentation titled “Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and 9-11” for the annual Wittenberg Series event.
On Saturday Nov. 11, presentations will be made by various scholars, and roundtable discussions are scheduled on a variety of subjects, including imperialism, journalism and people’s history of Japan. All have been areas of study for Huffman during his long and distinguished academic career.
“I’m very excited by [the conference],” Huffman said. “Lots of people that I admire will be there.” A member of the East Asian Studies faculty, Huffman teaches courses on East Asian history and studies the history of the media in Japan. His most recent work, A Yankee in Meiji Japan: The Crusading Journalist Edward H. House, looks at the life of one of the earliest American interpreters of Japan to the Western world.
Proctor and Oldstone-Moore secured a $2,500 grant with the Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, which enabled scholars from around the world to attend. The conference will be followed by a reception and dinner on Saturday. There will also be a brunch on Sunday, sponsored by several alumni.
he Friday night lecture is free of charge and open to the public. To attend the entire conference, the registration fee is $35, which includes snacks, breakfast and lunch. The event schedule is available on Wittenberg’s Department of History Web site. http://www4.wittenberg.edu/academics/hist/
By: Rachel Morgan ‘08
137-06
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