March 14, 2003

Contact: William "Bill" Tsutsui, Department of History, (785) 864-9435.

U.S.-East Asian relations author to speak at KU on Japan in age of globalization

LAWRENCE -- An expert on U.S.-East Asian relations and the historical dynamics of globalization, Akira Iriye, historian at Harvard University, will speak at the University of Kansas on "Japanese Imperialism in the Age of Globalization" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in the Spencer Museum of Art auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Iriye's lecture is the second annual Grant Goodman Distinguished Lecture in Japanese Studies. Iriye is the Charles Warren professor and chair of the Department of History at Harvard University.

Iriye has written 13 books, including "Power and Culture: The Japanese-American War, 1941-1945," "Cultural Internationalism and World Order" and, most recently, "Global Community: The Role of International Organizations in the Making of the Contemporary World." Iriye has received numerous international prizes and fellowships, including honorary doctorates from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich., and served as a visiting scholar at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan; the London School of Economics; and the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. In 1988, he served as president of the American Historical Association.

Iriye earned his bachelor's degree from Haverford College in Haverford, Pa., and his doctorate from Harvard University.

Grant Goodman is professor emeritus of history at KU, specializing in Japanese history and in Japan's cultural relations with South and Southeast Asia. A lifelong advocate for Asian studies at KU and across the nation, Goodman directed KU's Center for East Asian Studies during its formative years. He has written, edited or co-edited 15 books and more than 60 articles. He has served as a visiting professor at universities throughout Asia and Europe.

Iriye also will participate in a discussion at 3:30 p.m. March 25 in the Hall Center for the Humanities conference room on "The Cultural Foundations of Peace," as part of the Hall Center's War, Peace and Diplomacy Seminar. This discussion program is open to all KU graduate students, faculty and staff, and their guests.

The Grant Goodman Distinguished Lecture in Japanese Studies is sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies with additional financial support from the Hall Center, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of History.

For more information, please contact Bill Tsutsui at (785) 864-9435 or btsutsui@ku.edu.