The Center for Asian Studies and the Center for Sustainable Communities are pleased to inform you of an exciting event taking place at Willamette University next month: a two day symposium on the “Lessons of Fukushima” on February 24-25, 2012. It will take place Friday afternoon from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm and continue again on Saturday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. All events are in Paulus Lecture Hall, Rm. 201 at the Law School.
The keynote address will be delivered by Brett Walker at 3:15 pm on Friday Feb. 24th. He will be speaking on “The 3.11 Triple Disaster and Japan’s Environmental Past.” Professor Walker is Regents Professor at Montana State University the author of several books including Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan (2010), winner of the George Perkins Marsh Prize for Best Book in Environmental History.
A complete schedule of the symposium as well as abstracts of the papers to be presented may be found at: www.willamette.edu/events/fukushima
Symposium panels will address:
-the health and environmental implications of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster;
-the management of communication and information during this crisis and related events;
-the social and cultural responses to the crisis in Japan and beyond — including the testimony of members of our campus community;
-the politics of nuclear regulation and anti-nuclear advocacy;
and the role of charitable organizations, volunteers, Mercy Corps, and citizen groups in assisting recovery efforts.
The symposium is designed to be accessible to a general audience and the format is intended to foster conversations. On Saturday Feb. 25 from 10 am-2 pm WU students will be presiding over a family-friendly activity room next to Paulus Lecture Hall that will feature informational displays, documentary footage, and lessons in folding origami peace cranes. Please mark this important event on your calendar and help us to spread the word to students and community members alike.
For more information, please feel free to contact Warren Binford (Law) <wbinford@willamette.edu>, Ron Loftus (CLA) <rloftus@willamette.edu>, or Cecily McCaffrey (CLA) <cmccaffr@willamette.edu>.
