From Trauma to Transformation: Lessons of Reconciliation from the U.S.-Japan Context

A workshop for middle and high school teachers, and pre-service teachers, in the U.S. and Japan presented by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and EngageAsia. Supported by the United States-Japan Foundation.

 Application Priority Deadline: September 18, 2024
Application Final Deadline: September 30, 2024

Virtual Workshop Date (via Zoom):

U.S.: Saturday, November 16, 2024 – 6 to 8 PM EST
Japan: Sunday, November 17, 2024 – 8 to 10 AM JST

*There is no cost to apply and, if accepted, participate in this program.

Program Overview
The U.S.-Japan relationship offers profound lessons in reconciliation. Today, the countries share deep, trusting, and positive relations; 80 years ago, they viscerally hated and dehumanized each other, culminating in the use of nuclear weapons, the most destructive device in human history. This transformation has something to offer the world, but is rarely studied and, furthermore, is almost never covered by teachers who are shaping the minds and leaders of the future.

On the cusp of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the atomic bombings of Japan in 2025, we are launching an education project for high school teachers in the U.S. and Japan focused on U.S.-Japan reconciliation and the lessons it offers the world. Teachers who apply to the program will engage in a two-hour virtual workshop on U.S.-Japan reconciliation and its global lessons and have the potential opportunity to engage with us in future programs.

This project is a collaboration between EngageAsia and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and is funded by the United States-Japan Foundation. James t

This project’s long-term objective is to create an interdisciplinary train-the-trainer model whereby we educate a cohort of teachers on this subject who can disseminate it globally. Pending future funding, we may be able to engage teachers in the U.S. and Japan in a workshop in Hiroshima focused on developing teaching materials on lessons of reconciliation from the U.S.-Japan context.

Project Leaders
Project leaders Ms. Masako Toki and Dr. David Janes have over 50 years of combined expertise in U.S.-Japan educational programming.

Ms. Masako Toki is a Senior Project Manager and Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, CA. She is passionate about disarmament and nonproliferation education for young generations. She coordinates the Critical Issues Forum (CIF) to promote disarmament and nonproliferation education to high school students and teachers in the US and Japan. She also promotes disarmament and nonproliferation education to undergraduate students through the Summer Undergraduate Nonproliferation Fellowship Program. Her research interests include Japan’s nuclear disarmament policy, nonproliferation and disarmament education, humanitarian initiative, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Dr. David Janes is Chair of the Board and Founder of EngageAsia and serves as Vice President, North America, International House of Japan and Executive Director, American Friends of the International House of Japan. He has over 25 years of experience working on U.S.-Japan educational programming at institutions such as the United States-Japan Foundation, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), and as a Trustee of leading organizations in this field including Creative Connections and the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation. In addition, his academic pursuits have included in-depth research on how war memory is taught in China and Japan and his doctoral dissertation focused on collective memory related to Hiroshima. Dr. Janes has a specific interest in ways in which the memory of Hiroshima has been deployed to create peace for the future. In addition to his membership in the USJLP network, David is a Fellow of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future and Chairs the Board of the Japan ICU Foundation.

Application Details
This program is open to approximately 20 educators, ideally 10 from Japan and 10 from the United States. Applicants must be teachers of any subject, or pre-service teachers, that allows them to benefit from the workshop content and bring lessons learned into their classrooms. We aim to have numerous schools represented and therefore encourage no more than two applicants per school. Accepted teachers must be available for the full Zoom workshop in November. The program will be conducted in English.

The application deadline is September 18 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time and candidates will be notified of decisions in early October. s://www.surveymonkey.com/r/US-Japan-Reconciliation