"Natural and Unnatural Disasters: 3/11, Asbestos, and the Unmaking of Japan's Modern World"

Brett L. Walker, an expert in the environmental history of Japan, is Regents Professor and Michael P. Malone Professor of History at Montana State University, Bozeman. Professor Walker has written and edited many books, including “The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800” (2001), “The Lost Wolves of Japan” (2005), “Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan” (2010), and most recently, “A Concise History of Japan” (2015). His research encompasses not only environmental history, but also the history of human health, the history of science, and comparative world history. In 2013, he won a Guggenheim Fellowship in support of his work, and for 2015-16, he is Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. His talk will be relevant to a broad audience, including those interested in environmental history, Japanese history, Asian studies, public health, and environmental sustainability. Professor Walker’s talk is supported by a grant from the Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment (LIASE), as well as by the Asian Studies Program, the History Department, and the Environmental Program at Colorado College.

4:00 P.M., Gates Common Room, third floor of Palmer Hall, 1025 N. Cascade Ave. (east of Tutt Library). Tickets: Free to the Public