On March 2, the Hamilton Lugar School’s (HLS) 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI)* was honored to host a four-person delegation from Keio University (Japan) led by Keio’s Vice President for Global Engagement Motohiro Tsuchiya. The delegation was the first of its kind to IU, and marked Vice President Tsuchiya’s second visit to Bloomington in less than a year. Their on-campus engagements included meetings with administrators, a research exchange with IU graduate students, and a public panel organized under the theme of “East Asia’s Worsening Security Environment: Implications for the U.S.-Japan Alliance.”
Prof. Tsuchiya’s on-campus engagements began with a courtesy call with Interim Provost John Ciorciari, HLS Interim Dean David Bosco, and 21JPSI Founding Director Adam Liff. This was followed by a hosted lunch with HLS administrators, where attendees discussed possibilities for deepening IU-Keio exchanges. Prof. Liff then led the full Keio delegation on a tour of the historic Lilly Library’s special “America 250” exhibit, which featured a first printing of the Declaration of Independence, and the Global and International Studies Building.
The day’s official agenda concluded with a pair of intellectual exchanges. First, the Keio delegation joined Liff’s graduate seminar on “Security Flashpoints in East Asia,” where IU and Keio graduate students presented draft papers for critical feedback from Profs. Tsuchiya, Liff, and Keizo Kitagawa, an expert on international security affairs from Keio’s Faculty of Policy Management. Last but not least was a public panel featuring prepared remarks from Profs. Tsuchiya and Kitagawa, a moderated discussion, and a lively audience Q&A consisting entirely of questions from IU students. Nearly 50 students, faculty, staff, and community members turned out—despite terrible weather—to learn about and exchange views on East Asia security, the U.S.-Japan alliance, and a wide array of foreign policy challenges confronting the U.S. and Japan today.
The public panel was hosted and organized by 21JPSI. Co-sponsors included the Cybersecurity and Global Policy Program, the IU Cybersecurity Clinic, and the East Asia and the World Speaker Series.
*The 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI) was launched at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies in 2018. Under the leadership of Founding Director and Hamilton Lugar School faculty member Adam Liff, from its base in the Midwest 21JPSI aims to invigorate and expand research, teaching, and programming on contemporary Japanese politics, society, and international (esp. U.S.-Japan) relations, and to educate, raise awareness, and debate policy responses to the various political, social, and foreign policy challenges that Japan faces today. For more information about 21JPSI and its upcoming events, please visit https://jpsi.indiana.edu/ and sign up for our event announcement mailing list.
Activities and opportunities for students like the event described would not be possible without external financial support. If you would like to support 21JPSI’s mission through a tax-deductible gift to the IU Foundation, please click here or contact HLS’ Senior Director of Development. (For the IU Foundation’s full disclosure statement, see go.iu.edu/89n.)