2023/24 John Howes Lecture in Japanese Studies
With Guest Speaker Andrew Horvat
Works, Networks, and Good Works: John F. Howes and the early years of Japanese Studies at UBC
Date & Time:
Friday, February 2, 2024 from 5:30pm to 7:45pm PST
5:30-6:10pm (PST) Reception with light refreshments
6:15-7:45pm (PST) Lecture and Q&A
Location:
In-person: Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, 1855 West Mall, Vancouver BC (map here)
Online: via Zoom
Presented in English.
Free & open to the public. Registration (both in-person and online) required here: https://ubc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DXHIV_wdQ7qFx5EAyBhVSw
Lecture abstract:
After a day of translating Japanese military maps at General MacArthur’s headquarters across the moat from the Imperial Palace, John Howes would walk to the Ginza to play Bach on the organ of a church, one of few buildings still standing in Tokyo in the winter of 1947. On days off, the Navy-trained intelligence officer would drive a truck delivering clothing to local schools donated by American charities.
Arriving at UBC in 1961 to teach Japanese history, John did not turn his PhD dissertation into a book until after retirement. He was busy arranging overseas study opportunities in Japan for promising students, introducing graduates to employers, and raising money to complete the construction of the Asian Studies Centre.
While John was unique in his devotion to students, he was typical of the diversity of background of Japan-related faculty in the early years of Asian Studies at UBC. Shuichi Kato, trained as a medical doctor, taught medieval Japanese literature, when not writing novels and current affairs columns for the Asahi Shimbun from his apartment overlooking English Bay. Ronald Dore had taught Japanese at SOAS while still in his teens, and Sorbonne-trained linguistics Professor Bernard St. Jacques, started his career as a Jesuit priest at middle schools in Japan. The aim of the talk is to use John Howes’ career and legacy as a prism through which to view changes in Japanese studies and those who study Japan.
Guest speaker
Andrew Horvat, a UBC Asian Studies graduate, covered the Asia Pacific region from the 1970s to the late 1990s as Tokyo-based correspondent for the Associated Press, Southam News of Canada, the Los Angeles Times, and other major international media. As Japan representative of the Asia Foundation from 1999 to 2005, he organized programs on immigration, minority issues and historical reconciliation. From 2008 to 2013 Horvat directed Stanford University’s overseas studies program in Kyoto where he taught courses in modern Japanese history and translation which he continued at Josai International University until his retirement in 2022. Horvat received an Abe Fellowship to study the increased use of the Japanese language by non-native speakers and a Max Bell Fellowship to do research on cross-cultural communication in business. Among Horvat’s publications are translations of fiction and non-fiction by the Japanese novelist Kobo Abe, chapters in edited volumes on international educational exchange, historical reconciliation in East Asia, and the role of the Japanese news media in politics. Horvat received his B.A. (1968) and M.A. (1971) in Asian Studies from UBC. He is a former student of John Howes.
About the John Howes Lecture in Japanese Studies:
John Howes was a founding member of UBC’s Department of Asian Studies, which he joined in 1961 after earning his doctorate from Columbia University. During his 30 years of active teaching and research, Professor Howes was at the forefront of Canada-Japan cultural, educational and people-to-people relations and inspired countless young Canadians to dedicate their careers and lives to the Canada-Japan relationship in one way or another. In 2012, a number of UBC faculty, staff, and Professor Howes’ devoted former students came together to launch an endowment in his honour. The fund supports the John Howes Lecture in Japanese Studies, an annual public lecture for prominent scholars from around the world to speak to the university community and alumni on topics in Japanese Studies with a focus on Humanities. Dr. Howes passed away peacefully on February 4th, 2017, at the age of 92.
Should you have any questions, please contact the Department of Asian Studies at Asian.Studies@ubc.ca.