Annual Humanities symposium set for this month

Student News | Wednesday, September 11, 2019

The Humanities Symposium Series presents the fourth annual When East Meets West: Knights and Samurai: Legends and Reality. 

The symposium will examine the culture and belief systems of warrior cultures in medieval Europe and Japan. The Knightly Code of Chivalry and Samurai Code of Bushido share many principles. They represent distinct religious and social practices that shaped how each group of elite soldiers fought and lived.

The symposium will also include scholars and an expert trained in medieval swordsmanship.

Co-sponsored by the Columbus State Humanities Department and the Ohio State East Asian Studies Center, the Consulate General of Japan in Detroit has included the symposium in a recent newsletter.

Knights and Samurai: Legends and Reality will be held Friday, September 27 from 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Conference Center in the Center for Workforce Development, 315 Cleveland Ave.  Admission is $10 for faculty and staff. The symposium is free for students. Sessions include:

Session 1: Chivalry and Bushido

 A Similar Warrior Code in Medieval Europe and Japan? – Richard Kaueper, professor of History, University of Rochester

Hired Swords, Nostalgic Bureaucrats, National Exemplars: Situating Bushido in Japanese History – Melinda Landeck, assistant professor of East Asian Studies, Austin College

Session 2: Weapons and Technology
Like a Poleax to the Head: The Myth and Reality of Knightly Combat – Ken Mondschein, independent scholar and fencing master

Swords, Arrows, and other Sharp Sticks – Myth and Reality of Warriors in Medieval Japan – Morton Oxenboell, assistant professor in Japanese Studies, Indiana University

Click here to purchase tickets or find more information.

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