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2025 Japanese National Honor Society Inductees
Izzy Asker and Vincent Johnson are Inducted into Japanese National Honor Society College Chapter
Izzy Asker and Vincent Johnson of Georgetown University were nominated by Dr. Yoshiko Mori and have been inducted into the Japanese National Honor Society – College Chapter (JNHS–CC). The Japanese National Honor Society recognizes and encourages achievement and excellence in the study of the Japanese language. The society is administered by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ), and membership is regarded as a national honor.
Izzy Asker and Vincent Johnson are among more than 1,000 college and university students who have been inducted into the JNHS–CC since its establishment in 2007.
To be eligible, students must maintain a GPA of 3.5 in five semester-long or seven quarter-long courses in Japanese language and have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 at the time of nomination. Outstanding students of Japanese should be commended for their motivation and perseverance, as well as their dedication to mastering this challenging language. Inducted students receive Certificates of Excellence and red-and-white cords to wear at graduation and are recognized on the AATJ website.
In today’s increasingly global society, it is essential for students to move beyond a monolingual perspective and engage deeply with the language and culture of another country. The Modern Language Association (MLA) states: “The MLA regards the learning of languages other than English as vital to an understanding of the world; such learning serves as a portal to the literatures, cultures, historical perspectives, and human experiences that constitute the human record. Pragmatically, we believe in the value of becoming part of a global conversation in which knowledge of English is often not enough, and the security and future of our country depend on accurately understanding other cultures through their linguistic and cultural practices.”
JNHS–CC students are part of this “global conversation” and will become tomorrow’s leaders as they engage in multicultural and multilingual dialogue.
2023 Fall Faculty Convocation
Professor Yoshiko Mori and Professor Pei-Shan Yu were recognized at the 203 Fall Faculty Convocation for their promotion to Professor and Associate Teaching Professor, respectively. Congratulations!
Congratulations to EALC professors promoted to Associate Teaching Professor
Professor Huang, Professor Omori, Professor Sato, and Professor Wang were recognized for their promotion to Associate Teaching Professor during the fall 2022 Faculty Convocation with other newly tenured and promoted professors! Professor Cho was not in attendance, but he was greatly missed. Congratulations to all!
Chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures Receives Honorable Mention As One of Top Philosophers in the World
Academic Influence recently announced that Philip J. Ivanhoe, Ph.D. and chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures was given an honorable mention on the list of the top 25 influential philosophers in the world.
“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 College 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 focuses 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.
Professor Catherine Yu’s Retirement Reception
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