The Hiroshima Peace Institute (HPI) held its fifth Public Lecture Series in English. In this program our lecturers presented a series of talks in English, focusing on intriguing topics in their fields of expertise. All lectures were free and open to the public.
Lecture 1
Date & Time: January 17, 2020, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Topic: “American Victims of Radiation Exposures”
Lecturer: Robert Jacobs, Professor, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University
Abstract: Millions of Americans have been exposed to ionizing radiation from the production and testing of nuclear weapons, and from nuclear accidents involving both weapons and power production. Many more suffered as the victims of medical experiments testing the effects of nuclear materials on the human body. This talk will examine this history and these communities of “American Hibakusha.”
Profile of the lecturer: Jacobs is a historian of the social and cultural aspects of nuclear technologies. His recent work focuses on a global cross-cultural study of radiation affected communities.
Lecture 2
Date & Time: January 24, 2020, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Topic: “Ethnic Peace Process in Myanmar”
Lecturer: Narayanan Ganesan, Professor, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University
Abstract: The Myanmar government that signed the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with 8 ethnic armed organizations has continued the peace process. However, the process has become bogged down in 2019 with the withdrawal of the Karen National Union from formal talks. There has also been an upsurge of fighting in Rakhine and the northern Shan states leading to much more internally displaced persons. And government negotiations with members of the Northern Alliance that groups 7 other ethnic armed groups have come to naught while China has taken on a much greater role as the intermediary between the two groups.
Profile of the lecturer: Ganesan’s teaching and research interests are in Southeast Asian politics and foreign policy with a focus on issues that generate interstate and intrastate tensions.
Lecture 3
Date & Time: January 31, 2020, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Topic: “Climate Fiction and the Environmental Crisis”
Lecturer: Michael Gorman, Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Hiroshima City University
Abstract: How do creative representations of the environmental crisis contribute to understanding the urgency of the situation or the plight of its victims? With reference to novels by Chang-rae Lee, Louise Erdrich, and Paolo Bacigalupi this lecture will explore how American fiction reflects the environmental and human costs of the climate crisis and helps to bridge the gap between climate science and human experience.
Profile of the lecturer: Gorman’s research focuses on rural American culture and environmental issues in American literature.
Lecture 4
Date & Time: February 7, 2020, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Topic: “The Korean Hibakusha Movement: Challenges and Opportunities”
Lecturer: Yuko Takahashi, Citizen Researcher at the Institute for North East Asian Research, University of Shimane
Abstract: This presentation examines the Korean A-bomb victims’ movement since the 1960s up to the 1990s, and discusses how it was formed, developed, and changed before it primarily came to focus on legal actions in the 1990s.
Profile of the lecturer: Yuko Takahashi obtained her BA (Sheffield), MMus (London), MA (Leeds), and PhD (Kyushu). Her research interests lie in the modern and contemporary history of Korea, and the history debate between Korea and Japan.
Venue
Seminar Room, Satellite Campus, Hiroshima City University
4-1-1 Otemachi, Nakaku, Hiroshima, 9F Otemachi Heiwa Building
Capacity
40 people (first-come-first-served basis)