“I received this award on behalf of the Japanese language educators here in the United States,” she said. “There are lots of teachers working hard for American students. I’m one of them, and I’m very happy that Japan recognizes our time and effort.”

The award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to promoting mutual understanding between Japan and other nations. 

For Mori, a professor and director of the Japanese Language Program in the at the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences, it underscores the importance of Japanese language and cultural education at a time when world language enrollment is .

A National Leader and Advocate

Mori recently served as president of the (AATJ), an organization of more than 1,000 teachers nationwide. During her presidency, advocacy became a central part of her work.

“Language enrollment is declining in the United States, and Japanese programs are following the same trend, even though Japanese remains the fourth most studied language, according to the ,” she said.

She also serves as Chief Reader of the AP Japanese Language and Culture exam, working with high school teachers and strengthening the bridge between secondary and college-level programs.

“I take advantage of every single opportunity to get to know Japanese language educators at different levels,” Mori said. “I’ve had lots of opportunities to learn about education beyond the college level.”

Expanding Worldviews Through Languages

For Mori, language learning is never just about grammar and vocabulary.

She emphasized that learning another language expands a student’s worldview:

“If you know only one language, you have only that view and culture,” Mori said. “Foreign language education is the best way to expand your thoughts, your view and your cultural perspective.”

Her engagement with Japanese teaching integrates both on-campus and community-based cultural experiences. Students participate in the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the presentation contest and cultural events at the Embassy of Japan, such as , a Japanese coming-of-age ceremony. Georgetown will also be hosting the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) .

“These activities connect students with different people on campus and off campus,” she said. “They give students chances to participate, to visit Georgetown and to see what the community looks like.”

Weekly language tables, cultural activities and a student association help create a lively learning environment she hopes more students will join. Curriculum wise, she wants to expand the discussion on campus about how AI can support, rather than replace, language and culture learning.

The Joy and Value of Learning Japanese

Mori’s commitment — to students, to her colleagues, and to the field of Japanese language education — embodies the spirit of the Foreign Minister’s Commendation. The award reflects not only her achievements, but her dedication to strengthening cultural understanding through language learning.

Mori believes role models in language studies are essential.

“In order to raise the incentive to be a Japanese language teacher, we need role models,” she said. “In that sense, I’m very happy to be one of the recipients [of the commendation], and I want more teaching professionals to get attention.”

Looking forward, Mori hopes to see more Georgetown students discover the joy and value of learning Japanese.

“I want more students to consider a major, second major or minor in Japanese,” she said. “Learning Japanese is both fun and rewarding — culturally and academically. Our classes are engaging and challenging, our professors are supportive and approachable and there are plenty of exciting cultural activities to enjoy. Come join us and experience it for yourself!”

Nami Bolat (C’25), who is double majoring in French and theology and religious studies and minoring in Japanese, spent the past few months researching the Nabis. Bolat spent the summer on a Davis Fellowship, digging through the lives, beliefs and paintings that the Nabis left behind, first in the United States, then in Japan and, finally, in France. 

For Bolat, who has been fascinated by artists of the period since high school, the flow of religious and philosophical ideas from East to West, drew her to the project. 

“I have always been abstractly interested in the interplay between the East and West, especially when it comes to spirituality and religion,” explained Bolat. “Time and time again, it seems like the West has looked to the East for inspiration that they can’t seem to find in their own religions.”

Uncovering the Nabis

The name that the group took, Nabis, comes from the Hebrew word Nebiim, meaning a prophet, enlightened one or seer. 

“The name was coined by the poet Henri Cazali,” said Bolat. “He noticed a similarity between the way the brotherhood of painters sought to revitalize painting and the way the ancient projects had restored Israel.”

The name, and the additional mystical and philosophical trappings of a secret society, stuck. For the Nabis, the ancient prophets of Israel were just one part of a vast network of holy men whose teachings they wanted to uncover and digest. 

“Many of the artists were fascinated by occultism, esotericism and Theosophy,” said Bolat. “Theosophy claimed to be a synthesis of all world religions, a movement that sought the ‘ultimate truth’ expressed by all religions and world views that was very popular in the period amidst a rapidly secularizing France and ever-increasing global communication and exchange.” 

According to Bolat, the Nabis, though secluded by choice, were emblematic of a larger cultural trend, wherein Western thinkers and artists dabbled broadly, sucking in philosophical and religious ideas from the East.  

In her research, Bolat documents how the Nabis were importing more than just a piecemeal assembly of religious ideology, but were also drawing on Japanese art, including ukiyo-e, a genre that flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries and which was popular in Paris at the time. 

“闯补辫补苍别蝉别 ukiyo-e woodblock prints had a profound and instantaneous impact on European artists,” said Bolat. “It rose in popularity as Western art of the mid-nineteenth century struck an impasse, ensnared by naturalism and sterile academicism.” 

The synthesis studied by Bolat traveled along ideological, religious and artistic avenues. By traveling to Paris and Tokyo, she was able to directly examine artwork from prominent members of the Nabis, including Paul-?lie Ranson, Paul Sérusier, and Maurice Denis. 

“My research has uncovered that Theosophy seems to have been the most prominent religious influence on the group while the Japanese influence was mostly an aesthetic one,” said Bolat. “Theosophy’s attempts to amalgamate or find commonalities between all religions and world views are fascinating, a bit frightening and another example of how the West interacted and continues to interact with the East, both positively and negatively, on the spiritual and religious plane. 

The World as a Classroom

Bolat’s travels and research were funded through a Royden B. Davis Fellowship. Every year, the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences awards undergraduate students fellowships between $1,000 and $5,000 to explore “transformative educational experiences.” 

Given in honor of Fr. Davis, Dean of the 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences from 1966 to 1989, the fellowship empowers students to pursue avenues of interest that extend beyond the boundaries of the classroom, encouraging the curiosity that is at the heart of a liberal arts education. 

“In any situation, one should always leave room for the unexpected and the unseen,” Fr. Davis said in a 1985 commencement address. “In order to do this, we must employ the imagination… One gains through the imagination a freedom of action, and ability to be ready for fresh choices.”

For Bolat, her summer experience not only expanded her horizons, but allowed her to connect her personal identity, interests and area of study. Bolat, who has relatives in France and Japan, was able to reconnect with family while studying the Nabis. 

“I began my travels afraid I was about to face a tremendously lonely journey, worried that my subpar Japanese wouldn’t be enough to feel close to the family I’ve left behind there, worried to be all alone wandering around Paris,” said Bolat. “I was proven completely and utterly wrong.”

, an associate professor in the , sponsored Bolat’s research and mentored her throughout the process. 

“Nami’s project is an exciting and interdisciplinary one that has allowed her to combine all of her academic areas of interest in important and wide-ranging ways,” said O’Neil-Henry. “Using her Japanese and French language skills, Nami was able to access different international archives and museums and in the process discover connections among history, art history, culture and religion.”

Throughout her travels and archival research at home, Bolat was able to better understand the Nabis and herself.  

“Every single day brought something new and exciting,” said Bolat. “Even during the month before I left, I was immersed in research and there were so many times when my jaw was on the floor at what I was reading.”

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“We at Georgetown University are so fortunate to be the recipients of these beautiful gifts,” said Rosario Ceballo, Dean of Georgetown 海角论坛 of Arts & Sciences. “We are especially proud that Georgetown’s campus on the Hilltop will be further linked to the broader DC region and the country of Japan through the planting of these trees.”

The history of cherry trees in Washington, DC goes back more than a century. Between 1909 and 1912, the mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, facilitated the donation of more than 5,000 cherry trees, which were warmly received by President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen “Nellie” Taft. Today, the blossoming cherry trees attract some 1.5 million annual visitors. 

“This shows the special relationship and friendship between the United States and Japan,” said Toshio Nomura, General Manager of The Americas for ANA. “We are very much honored to take part in and sponsor this event.”

In recent years, the National Cherry Blossom Festival has worked to plant cherry trees beyond the Tidal Basin, reducing the ecological impact visitors have on the area. The six trees planted on Georgetown’s campus bring the total number of new trees planted by ANA in the past five years to 100. 

“Our campus is an arboretum of sorts – we have dozens of species of trees – and our landscaping has been cultivated to offer a habitat to a wide variety of wildlife, especially butterflies and songbirds,” Dean Ceballo said. “These trees will be a striking new addition to our green spaces.”

Students and faculty had the opportunity to meet with prominent guests to Georgetown’s campus, including representatives from ANA, the National Cherry Blossom Festival and Mr. Koichi Ai from the Embassy of Japan. While the trees won’t bloom until spring, their planting brings the promise of a beautiful future.   

“Blossoming cherry trees are undeniably graceful and beautiful but at least to many Japanese they also symbolize and evoke Mono no aware (物の哀れ), literally “the pathos of things,” which includes an awareness of their impermanence or transitory nature,” said , Professor and Chair of . “I think we all gain some inkling of this attitude toward the world in the moment when we see the beautiful blossoms carried away by the wind and scattering away.” 

Announced earlier this month, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded grants to 180 fellows this year after drawing more than 2,500 applications. Considered one of academia’s most prestigious grants, the Guggenheim represents an opportunity for scholars and artists to pursue and fulfill their passion projects.  

Sand, who has dual appointments in the and the , will go on sabbatical during the upcoming academic year to finish his work on a forthcoming book, which will first be published in Japanese before being printed in English. 

Rediscovering Established History

Sand’s research focuses on the beguiling history of the Ise Jingu grand shrine in Mie Prefecture, Japan, which has been around for more than 1,300 years. Despite that lengthy history, the timbers and materials making up the current shrine have only been around since 2013. That’s because the main structures are razed and rebuilt every 20 years as part of a Shinto ritual. 

“The Shinto shrines at Ise are the pinnacle of the hierarchy of historic sites of the Shinto faith of Japan,” says Sand. “The rebuilding being such an unusual practice has drawn a lot of attention from architects and people from the heritage world. I am going back into the historical records to look at how it has been maintained and how they have been rebuilt and why.” 

The grand shrine, which is part of a complex of more than 100 shrines, is dedicated to Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of the sun, and closely associated with the Imperial House of Japan. The shrine isn’t built in exactly the same place – its location within the complex moves, but the spirits who call it home move with the structure. 

“The standard view has been that the grand shrine has been rebuilt identically without break for 63 reconstructions over 1300 years,” Sand says. “But I’ve found that’s not entirely true — while remaining faithful to the forms of the past there’s actually been a lot of change.”

For Sand, who studied architecture at the University of Tokyo before completing his PhD in history at Columbia University, the topic is at the intersection of numerous interests. While researching a paper he provocatively titled Japan’s Monument Problem, he realized that despite mounds of contemporary writing and thinking about the Ise Jingu shrine there were scant records of its founding, the original intent behind the Shinto practitioners who first constructed the building. 

“The shrines have a vast archive, yet no traditional texts explain the reason for the reconstruction–there’s no classical text to turn to, no bible,” says Sand. “But there are a lot of explanations — ideas of Japanese attachment to impermanence, things like that. Those are modern ideas grafted onto the place. Interesting stuff for interpretation, but what about the lived history?”

Sand will spend the bulk of the next academic year in Japan, close to the Ise archives and his colleagues who work in the same subject matter. 

“I’m excited to wrap up this research and solve some lingering mysteries,” says Sand. “Then comes the challenge of making it speak to Japanese and English-language audiences.”

“I am humbled by this news and delighted to see East Asian philosophy recognized in this way,” Ivanhoe says. “Philosophical reflection is one of humanity’s greatest achievements, and it is fundamentally important for people to understand and appreciate the distinctive and remarkable contributions made by traditions outside what currently is the mainstream of philosophical investigation.”

A Focus on Confucius

A team of academics and data scientists, Academic Influence seeks to generate objective rankings for academics, schools and disciplinary programs that make up higher education. Their ranking for the top philosophers in the world focuses on those who have a large citation and web presence and are therefore shaping how the world is viewed.

A scholar of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Ivanhoe was chosen for this award due to two influential claims and his more constructive views on oneness. 

Though somewhat controversial, Ivanhoe argues that Neo-Confucian philosophers have in certain respects misinterpreted Confucius and, consequently, their own intellectual tradition and that Confucianism can best be understood as a kind of virtue ethics. In collaboration with several other contemporary philosophers, he also has argued that traditional East Asian conceptions of oneness, virtue and happiness have much to teach the modern world.

For his work, Ivanhoe has received awards such as The President’s Award from the City University of Hong Kong as well as numerous grants. 

In addition to his primary appointment at Georgetown, Ivanhoe holds the title of visiting distinguished chair professor in the 海角论坛 of Confucian Studies and Eastern Philosophy at Sungkyunkwan University Korea and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture. 

He has served as associate professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Stanford University, associate professor of Philosophy and Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, Austin J. Fagothey, S. J. distinguished visiting professor at Santa Clara University, John Findlay visiting professor of Philosophy at Boston University and chair professor at the City University of Hong Kong.

Ivanhoe is one of the few philosophers named by Academic Influence whose works focus on eastern philosophy. 

“My hope is that this declaration by Academic Influence will help to raise awareness of and interest in such work and will serve as a solid foundation for further developing the study of East Asian philosophy here at Georgetown University,” Ivanhoe says.

“Our outstanding new faculty members span the disciplines of the arts and sciences, bringing with them excellence in research and teaching, a remarkable diversity of perspectives and great intellectual energy,”  says Christopher Celenza, dean of Georgetown 海角论坛. “I am delighted to welcome them to Georgetown 海角论坛.”

Contributing to a Community of Top-Notch Teachers 

The faculty will also continue their research projects at Georgetown that address a variety of topics that range from the examination of systems and network security to writing the first cultural history of Black Chicago’s mid-twentieth century apartments. Several of these new faculty members have interests that are interdisciplinary and require interdepartmental collaboration.  

, inaugural director of the , says that she is thrilled to work with incoming and professor , a historian of medicine and medical humanities scholar, on the intersection of medicine and the humanities.

“An enlightened, creative and generous colleague, with excellent credentials in medicine and literary studies, Professor Krishnan is instrumental to the vision of the Georgetown Humanities Initiative,” says Pireddu.  “Through her pioneering scholarship and pedagogy and her strong community engagement, Professor Krishnan will help students, faculty, and administrators inside and outside Georgetown to appreciate the crucial role of humanities tools in the medical profession–emphasis on critical reading and analytical skills and the ability to master complex narratives, different cultural productions and multiple interpretive methodologies.”

Krishnan says that she is honored to join the Georgetown faculty and stresses that now more than ever, this work is of critical importance “as we remake and reimagine our current and post-pandemic world.”

“Though we are living through a profoundly unsettling time, I have personally been energized by the global movements fighting systemic racism, health disparities, and socioeconomic injustice,” she says. “We know that pandemics unerringly expose social inequalities, and the intersection of this outbreak and our healthcare system has powerfully revealed all the areas ripe for intervention. The humanities and social sciences have already offered critical insights to the biomedical, and I hope and believe our initiative can contribute in profound ways. I look forward to how the Medical Humanities initiative can support, contribute, and innovate in creating a more equitable, just campus and world.”

She is eager to lead the Medical Humanities Initiative, work closely with colleagues at the Medical Center and 海角论坛 and Pireddu and the Humanities Initiative. 

These new professors are some of the leading experts in their fields. , an incoming professor in the , has authored and edited several books on the intersections of Black women’s intellectual history, 20th-century US political and cultural activism, African American and African Diasporic politics and gender and sexuality studies. 

“Dayo Gore is a preeminent scholar of Black women’s and Black movement histories,” says , vice dean of faculty and Idol Family Professor of the 海角论坛 of Arts and Sciences. “She has conducted original archival research that transforms our understanding of the Civil Rights Movement. Her new book on Black women’s transnational travels and activism will evidence how Black women formed international movement networks in the mid- and late-twentieth century, which serve as a precursor to contemporary organizations that struggle for justice.”

Many of these professors are eager to conduct their research on campus with the help of undergraduate and graduate students’ participation. 

21st Century Postdoctoral Fellows Program Launches

The 海角论坛 is excited to continue its postdoctoral fellowship that brings exceptional early-career scholars from historically underrepresented groups in their fields to teach and pursue research in their area of interest.

This year, will serve as a postdoctoral fellow in the under . 

Tenure-Line Faculty

Full-Time Non-Tenure Line Faculty

21st Century Postdoctoral Fellows