Will Japan Go Ballistic? O'Neill Literary House Launches Spring Tea & Talk Series February 25

Chestertown, MD, February 10, 2003 — Washington College's O'Neill Literary House Tea & Talk Series kicks off its spring lecture series on Tuesday, February 25 at 4 p.m. with “Japan Going Nuclear?,” a talk to address the likelihood of Japan developing nuclear weapons in response to current tensions with North Korea and in its region. The talk will be presented by Dr. Andrew Oros, assistant professor of international studies and political science at the College. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Dr. Oros specializes in the international and comparative politics of East Asia, theories of international relations, and foreign intelligence and espionage. He has published articles in Japan Forum, Public and International Affair, Intelligence and National Security, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, and numerous other journals. His report “Can Japan Come Back?” was published recently in a Japanese newspaper.

The Tea & Talk Series will continue on March 18 with “Strings Attached,” a poetry reading and Celtic harp performance by Meredith Davies Hadaway, Vice President for College Relations at Washington College. Hadaway has played the harp in local and regional venues, and has traveled to Ireland as a guest artist for the Clifden (Connemara) Community Arts festival. She is currently a candidate for a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from Vermont College.

On April 22, Polly Kuulei Sommerfeld, a lecturer in drama at Washington College, will present “What's Equity Got to Do With It?”, a Q&A focusing on the challenges faced by professional actors.

The Tea & Talk Series provides opportunities for college faculty and staff to share their areas of expertise with the college and with the surrounding community. All talks are held at theO'Neill Literary House on Washington Avenue in Chestertown. Tea is served at 4 p.m.; talks begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Dr. Wayne Bell Emphasizes the Environment in Science Education at International Coastal Seas Conference

Chestertown, MD, November 9, 2001 — Dr. Wayne Bell, director of the Washington CollegeCenter for the Environment and Society, and Andrew Stein '99, program manager for the Center, will present on the topic "Coastal Seas as a Context for Science Teaching: A Lesson from the Chesapeake Bay," at the Fifth International Conference on the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS), to be held November 19-23, 2001 in Kobe, Japan. Bell, Stein, and senior Michael Scozzafava '02 will accompany a larger Maryland delegation to the conference.

The presentation, co-authored with student Erin Fowler '01, promotes the use of environmental studies as a comprehensive method to teach science, mathematics and technology to primary and secondary school students. Stein also will be exhibiting at the EMECS Environmental Fair on November 18.

"We in this field have witnessed how environmental studies engenders stewardship," says Bell, "but it is also a great way to teach science."

Bell believes that by using authentic environmental data gathering and analysis techniques in the classroom, environmental studies does not need to remain a "soft" part of science education. Rather, students understanding of fundamental scientific and technological concepts will be enhanced as see "science in action" through environmental projects involving sophisticated instrumentation, compilation of measurements and statistics, and interpretation of data using graphs and satellite imagery.

"Unfortunately, these resources are seldom interpreted for use by K-12 educators, but they need to be," says Bell. "Together with Andrew Stein and Erin Fowler, I have developed an example that uses the Chesapeake Bay as a paradigm to demonstrate how such interpretation can assist educators in teaching important principles in physical oceanography and marine ecology."

Bell also hopes his EMECS contacts will foster more university exchanges for Washington College and promote a greater spirit of cooperation between nations.

"As a nation, we have to begin thinking about other people in the world and be open to their concerns--sharing instead of telling," says Bell. "The EMECS conferences set a tone for approaching the world's environmental problems this way."

The conference is organized by the International EMECS Center in Kobe, Japan, established to promote the preservation of Japan's Seto Inland Sea and the world's enclosed coastal seas through international cooperation and information exchange. The EMECS concept developed in the mid-1980s when environmentalists, researchers and policymakers involved with the Chesapeake Bay realized the Bay restoration program was being implemented with little knowledge of the information, methods and results gained by other estuarine and enclosed coastal sea programs in the U.S. and abroad. Concurrently, Governor Toshitami Kaihara of Japan's Hyogo Prefecture had similar concerns while concluding a successful agreement among 17 Japanese jurisdictions for the environmental restoration of the Seto Inland Sea. EMECS now supports a worldwide network concerned with preserving the health and environmental quality of the planet's enclosed coastal seas. The theme of EMECS 2001 is Toward Coastal Zone Management that Ensures Coexistence Between People and Nature in the 21st Century.

Zen Master at Washington College March 23

Chestertown, MD — The Zen principles of mental tranquillity, fearlessness, and spontaneity will be clarified by Reverend Keido Fukushima, chief abbot of Tofukuji Monastery in Kyoto, Japan, at Washington College on March 23. His lecture, "What is Zen?" takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Hynson Lounge. At 4:30 p.m., Reverend Fukushima will give a demonstration of calligraphy in the O'Neill Literary House. Both events are free and open to the public.

Reverend Fukushima is well known as a Zen Master of special depth and insight as well as a calligrapher of rare discipline and adeptness. His calligraphy is highly prized in Japan as well as the United States, where it has been exhibited to great acclaim in New York and San Francisco. While touring America recently, Reverend Fukushima gave a calligraphy demonstration at Columbia University. Kay Larson, an art critic who also practices Zen, wrote for The New York Times that Reverend Fukushima "chatted freely with the audience. Suddenly he stopped talking. He mediated for a few moments, seeming to reach deep within himself. Then he picked up a thick, chunky brush and paused. Strike! The deed was done: a dense black circle. He gave it away."

Born in Kobe, Reverend Fukushima joined the Rinzai Zen school of Buddhism in 1947. After graduate studies at Otani University in Kyoto, he joined the monastery of Nanzenji in 1961. In 1971 he became the vice abbot at Hofukuji temple in Okayama prefecture. He came to Tofukuji as the leading Zen Master in 1980 and was appointed the head abbott of the Rinzai school of Buddhism in 1991. He has given lectures at 20 universities in the United States, including Harvard, Columbia and Bucknell.

Reverend Fukushima's appearance at Washington College is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the Campus Events and Visitors Committee.