2023/
24 John Howes Lecture in Japanese Studies
With Guest
Speaker Andrew Horvat
Date & Time:
Friday\, February 2\, 2024 f
rom 5:30pm to 7:45pm PST
5:30-6:10pm (PST) Reception with light refre
shments
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
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Lecture abstract:
A
fter a day of translating Japanese military maps at General MacArthur’s hea
dquarters 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 s
till standing in Tokyo in the winter of 1947. On days off\, the Navy-traine
d intelligence officer would drive a truck delivering clothing to local sch
ools 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 Ja pan for promising students\, introducing graduates to employers\, and raisi ng money to complete the construction of the Asian Studies Centre.
Wh ile John was unique in his devotion to students\, he was typical of the div ersity of background of Japan-related faculty in the early years of Asian S tudies 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 Do re had taught Japanese at SOAS while still in his teens\, and Sorbonne-trai ned linguistics Professor Bernard St. Jacques\, started his career as a Jes uit priest at middle schools in Japan. The aim of the talk is to use John H owes’ career and legacy as a prism through which to view changes in Japanes e studies and those who study Japan.
Andrew Horvat\, a UBC Asian
Studies graduate\, covered the Asia Pacific region from the 1970s to the la
te 1990s as Tokyo-based correspondent for the Associated Press\, Southam Ne
ws of Canada\, the Los Angeles Times\, and other major international media.
As Japan representative of the Asia Foundation from 1999 to 2005\, he orga
nized programs on immigration\, minority issues and historical reconciliati
on. From 2008 to 2013 Horvat directed Stanford University’s overseas studie
s program in Kyoto where he taught courses in modern Japanese history and t
ranslation which he continued at Josai International University until his r
etirement in 2022. Horvat received an Abe Fellowship to study the increased
use of the Japanese language by non-native speakers and a Max Bell Fellows
hip to do research on cross-cultural communication in business. Among Horva
t’s publications are translations of fiction and non-fiction by the Japanes
e novelist Kobo Abe\, chapters in edited volumes on international education
al 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 Studie s\, which he joined in 1961 after earning his doctorate from Columbia Unive rsity. During his 30 years of active teaching and research\, Professor Howe s 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. I n 2012\, a number of UBC faculty\, staff\, and Professor Howes’ devoted for mer students came together to launch an endowment in his honour. The fund s upports the John Howes Lecture in Japanese Studies\, an annual public lectu re for prominent scholars from around the world to speak to the university community and alumni on topics in Japanese Studies with a focus on Humaniti es. Dr. Howes passed away peacefully on February 4th\, 2017\, at the age of 92.
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