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Lectures and Special Events
The UTM International Lecture Series presents Suzuko Okamura Hamasaki
who will give a lecture/demonstration, WHAT IS THE WAY OF JAPANESE KARATE?, on Tuesday, April 1, from 5:30-7:00pm, in Watkins Auditorium (University Center).
Ms. Hamasaki has practiced Karate-do continuously for almost half a century. Beginning in Japan when she was only 6 years old under the tutelage of her father, Mitsuyasu Okamura, Ms. Hamasaki was at the start one of the few women to engage in a martial art that was dominated by men in an era in which male chauvinism was all too common. Yet she never stopped challenging the status quo. As a young adult, she entered major competitions, most notably placing first in the 5th World Karate Championships in Madrid, Spain (1980), the 1st World Games in Santa Clara, California, and the 35th All Japan Sports Championships in Shiga, Japan (1981). Since arriving in the United States in the early 1980s, Ms. Hamasaki has taught Karate, lectured and published throughout the world on the subject. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Karate-do in Japan. The experience of having been involved in Karate-do as a student, a competitor, a teacher, a lecturer and a writer who grew up in Japan but has spent half her life in this country has given Ms. Hamasaki great insight into the way in which the martial arts of Japan, and Karate-do in particular, is transmitted to and received by the public.
This event will offer an illustration of the key techniques of Karate and many insights into Japanese culture. Ms. Hamasaki’s lecture/demonstration is a featured activity in this year’s International Week and is part of the Center’s Spring 2008 Spotlight on Japan. It is open to the general public as well as the university community and will be followed by a reception in the University Center. The event is co-sponsored by the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Division of Student Affairs, the Martin Japanese Karate Dojo (Student Club), and the Center for Global Studies and International Education. ______________________________________________________________________________ Don't Forget the Mid-Continent Consortium's Foreign-Language Immersion Weekend for Spanish (Feb. 29-March 1) and French (March 1-2). All information is on the web site: "2008 Immersion Weekend". ______________________________________________________________________________ Japan, Our Forgotten Partner Mr. Thomas Hyde, President of Management Recruiters Japanese, Murfreesboro, will deliver a lecture on Japan, Our Forgotten Partner, on Wed., Feb., 27, at 3:30 pm in 111 UC (Legislative Chamber). Although this lecture will directed to the students of an Economics 100 class, the instructor, Dr. Bob Figgins, will be glad to welcome any members of the campus community who wish to hear Mr. Hyde’s remarks.
Mr. Hyde is a UT Martin alumnus who illustrates how much travel and study abroad can enhance a standard undergraduate education. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business at UT Martin, Mr. Hyde took advantage of university programs in Spain, Japan, Israel, and China to broaden his perspectives on the word and to become proficient in Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese. His experiences as an exchange student at UT Martin’s longtime partner in Japan, Hirosaki University, were especially rewarding and Hyde credits them with setting the course of his later professional life. After graduation, he continued his international education, studying on a Rotary Fellowship in Hong Kong and completing a two-year master’s program at International Christian University in Tokyo.
In his business career, Mr. Hyde has reaped dividends from his many years of living and studying abroad: his firm, MRJapanese, has a long and successful track record of placing professionals with competence in Japanese and English in U.S. and Japanese companies needing bilingual employees and Mr. Hyde has become a prominent member of the business community in Tennessee. As Mr. Hyde will remind us in his talk, this community includes over 150 Japanese companies which, in sectors like automobile manufacturing, have become the mainstay of our state’s economy. Despite the attention given by the media to rising countries such as China and India, Mr. Hyde will argue that that we are well advised to recognize the importance that these companies have on our economic well-being and to further strengthen our business relationship with our “forgotten” partner, Japan. ______________________________________________________________________________ The Muriel D. Tomlinson Memorial Lecture, " The Rise and Fall of Mexican Cinema (1937-1970)," will be presented by Dr. Daniel Nappo, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Chair, Department of Modern Foreign Languages. This lecture in the PHI KAPPA PHI series, will be mediated by a Powerpoint component with photos, newsclips, and promotional posters. The presentation will be informational rather than scholarly, and is intended for a general university audience. Tuesday, February 12, 2008, Watkins Auditorium at 7 pm. ______________________________________________________________________________
Don't foget the North-American Marketing Expo, from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12, at Boling University Center, with a focus on the international business which has become so important to Tennessee's economic wellbeing. ______________________________________________________________________________ Travel Studies & Study Abroad Fair The Center for Global Studies will sponsor a Travel-Study Fair on Monday, Oct. 1, 2-5pm, in the University Center (first floor corridor, between the Legislative Chamber and Watkins Auditorium), which will feature all the travel-study and study-abroad programs available to UT Martin students this coming academic year. The faculty/staff group leaders will be present at information tables to distribute promotional materials and to discus their trips with students and other members of the campus community. We need your help in announcing this Fair to the students in your classes and in encouraging them to attend. To update you on the travel-study/study-abroad offerings in 2007-08, I am including below and by attachment a complete list of these programs, along with the group leaders. If you have any questions, please call the Center for Global Studies at x 1023. ________________________________________________________________________ Talented and Famous Mexican Percussionist Visits UTM The innovative Evaristo Aguilar will visit our campus on Monday, April 2 and will offer a concert in Watkins Auditorium at 5:30. Biographical information on this exciting musician is avilable on line. ________________________________________________________________________ UTM Wecomes Visiting Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Luis Aguirre ITINERARY: VISIT OF DR. LUIS ALBERTO AGUIRRE URIBE, AUTONOMOUS AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY “ANTONIO NARRO” Wednesday, February 21: Arrive Nashville International Airport, 2:20 pm, Continental flight CO 2321. Lunch / Dinner in Nashville; arrive Martin 6 pm; check-in at EconoLodge. MFL Foreign Film Series, Aventurera (Mexico, 1949), 7 pm Watkins Auditorium. Thursday, February 22: Visit to UTM Campus. Visit to the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, 8-9 am. Tour of the facilities of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, 9-12:30 pm, with Dr. Jim Byford. Lunch at the Chancellor’s Residence, 12:30-1:30 pm. Tour of UTM campus with Chancellor Nick Dunagan, 1:30-3 pm. Presentation, 3-4 pm, UC Legislative Chamber, Title: “Sanitary and Phytosanitary Regulations in International Trade” (in English). Return to hotel, 4:30 pm. Dinner at Los Portales, 7 pm. Informal afterglow at the home of Dr. Paul Crapo, 9-10 pm. Friday, February 23: Pick-up at Econolodge, 9 am. Distance Learning Center and CGS and International Programs, Gooch, 9-10 am. Depart for Nashville, 10 am; arrive Nashville 1 pm; check in at Maxwell House Millennium Hotel. Tour of Nashville, shopping, 2-4 pm. Visit with Dr. Jim Byford and representatives from state agricultural organizations at the Ellington Agricultural Complex, 4 pm. Farewell dinner at Mere Bulles, Brentwood, 6:30 pm. Return to Maxwell House Millennium Hotel, 9 pm. Saturday, February 24: Pick-up at hotel 9:30. Breakfast in Nashville, 10 am. Arrive Nashville International Airport, 12 pm. Departure for Monterrey, Mexico, 2:45 pm, on Continental flight CO 3025. Biographical Information for Dr. Luis Alberto Aguirre Uribe Born in Mexico City, Dr. Luis Aguirre has had a distinguished career as an academic, teacher, investigator, and director of phytosanitary regulations for trade between the United States and Mexico. Dr. Aguirre earned his B.S. degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Autonomous Agrarian University “Antonio Narro” in 1972. He then earned his Masters of Science degree from the Technological Institute of Higher Education of Monterrey with the thesis, “Sexual Attraction in the Mexican Fruit Fly Anastrepha ludens” (1974). In 1978 he earned a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University (College Station) with his dissertation, Biology of the Immature Stages of the Pecan Weevil Curculio caryae Horn, and the Oviposition Habits of the Adult Female Weevil. Shortly after earning his doctorate, Dr. Aguirre began work as a professor of agriculture and entomology at the institution where he had earned his BS degree, the Autonomous Agrarian University “Antonio Narro”, located in Saltillo, Mexico. Dr. Aguirre has taught numerous courses in entomology, pest control, horticulture, and use of pesticides. He has also directed dozens of dissertations and masters theses, as well as served on many committees for the review and coordination of the agricultural programs at la Narro. From 1986 to 1990, Dr. Aguirre served as the Secretary General of la Narro. He has also published papers in dozens of referred scientific journals and given presentations in all the major cities of Mexico, in San Diego, California, and in San Salvador. Currently, Dr. Aguirre is working in the department of parasitology at la Narro. In the late 1990s, Dr. Aguirre held several important posts related to international trade for the administration of President Ernesto Zedillo. From 1993-95, he served as Coordinator of the National Centers of Reference; from 1995-97, he served as Director of Phytosanitary Regulation; and from 1998-2000 he served as the General Director of Plant Sanitation. These positions have permitted Dr. Aguirre a unique perspective of the manner in which NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, is applied to trade between Mexico and the United States. In November 2002, Dr. Aguirre was elected by students and faculty to become the rector (like a chancellor or president) of the Autonomous Agrarian University “Antonio Narro”. During Dr. Aguirre’s four-year term (there is no reelection) all the graduate programs of the university were accredited by important agencies, several agreements of cooperation were signed between la Narro and universities throughout the world, and President Vicente Fox recognized la Narro as one of the thirteen top universities in Mexico, as well as the premier agricultural university in the country. Dr. Aguirre also insured the economic viability of the institution in years to come by balancing the budget with careful stewardship of funds and three programs of voluntary retirement. On March 31, 2006, Dr. Nick Dunagan visited Saltillo, Mexico and, with Dr. Aguirre, signed an agreement of cooperation for student and faculty exchange, as well as for research, between UTM and la Narro. UTM is only the fourth US institution of higher education to sign a formal agreement of this kind with la Narro. We currently have one student from la Narro with us here in Martin, and soon we hope to send students from Tennessee to Dr. Aguirre’s fine institution. _________________________________________________________________ LANGUAGE IMMERSION WEEKEND UTM French and Spanish students look forward to participating in a language immersion weekend at Cedars of Lebanon State Park from March 23 to 25, with students from other institutions in the Mid-Continent Consortium for International Education.
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