Where will Japan go in the future? will be discussed at a free public seminar at The University of Queensland this week.
The seminar is part of UQ`s Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies’ (CCCS) 2002 seminar program and will be held on Thursday, October 24 at 2pm in the Social Sciences and Humanities Library Conference Room, St Lucia campus.
Dr Morris Low from UQ’s School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies will argue that the Japanese themselves have been asking where their country is heading since the end of World War II.
He will examine the role of museums and department stores in helping them envisage a future tied to science and technology, and will specifically focus on the promotion of atomic energy in post-war Japan.
“The state helps Japanese people imagine a techno-scientific future for themselves and their children through futuristic displays in museums and department stores,” Dr Low said.
He will look at the recent opening of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation to show that the state in Japan continues to pin its hopes on a science and technology-led future.
Dr Low is a senior lecturer in Asian studies and has co-authored several books on Japan, including Science, Technology and Society in Contemporary Japan (Cambridge University Press, 2000) and the soon-to-be released Asian Masculinities: The Meaning and Practice of Manhood in China and Japan (Routledge Curzon, 2003). He is currently a Trustee of the Queensland Art Gallery and former President of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia.
Media: for further information, contact Dr Low (telephone 07 3365 6935 before 12 noon on Tuesday, October 22 or Wednesday, October 23 only or email: m.low@uq.edu.au), CCCS Director Professor Graeme Turner (telephone 07 3365 7183, email: graeme.turner@uq.edu.au) or Joanne van Zeeland at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2619 or email: communications@uq.edu.au).
