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Lawrence Weschler, director of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU,  Ian Buruma, frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and the Henry R. Luce Professor at Bard, and Kanan Makiya, professor of Middle East studies at Brandeis University, take a critical look at our urge to commemorate.  All three will participate in the all-day symposium "Second Thoughts on the Memory Industry" Saturday, May 7th at NYU.

Ian Buruma, a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and a Henry R. Luce professor at Bard College, discusses media portrayals of Japanese people following the earthquake and tsunami -- and the distinction between cultural differences and cultural stereotypes.

President Obama arrived in Indonesia this morning, for the second stop on his 10-day trip in Asia. As he meets with world leaders in India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, the President will talk about global security, international trade and economics, improving cultural ties, diplomatic efforts and preventing terrorism. But some issues will be conspicuously missing from his public agenda.

Ian Buruma’s new novel, The China Lover, is based on the life of the Japanese actress known to American audiences as Shirley Yamaguchi.

Events:
Ian Buruma will be speaking and signing books
Mon. Oct. 6 from 7:00-8:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
97 ...

As China prepares for the Olympics, it must also consider its approach to the foreign press. Minky Worden, media director at Human Rights Watch and editor of China's Great Leap, and Ian Buruma, journalist, author, and professor of Democracy, Human Rights & Journalism at Bard ...

Writers Ian Buruma, Richard Halpern and Annette Gordon-Reed discuss the idea of loss of innocence in American culture and history. All of them will be participants at an event on Saturday, October 5th at NYU's Cantor Film Center.