Japan in Crisis: Exploring the Consequences of a Cascading Disaster

Date: 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 4:15pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Goodman Classroom, L-140, Littauer Building, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA

A Harvard Community Discussion

About the Seminar
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan, triggering massive tsunami waves that swept away whole towns and taking the lives of as many as 10,000 people. The earthquake also caused damage to several of Japan’s nuclear reactors, and authorities continue to struggle to bring that crisis under control.

In this panel discussion, faculty members, researchers, and guest panelists will explore the implications of this catastrophic chain of events and discuss the multi-fold challenges facing Japan as it struggles to respond and recover. Dr. Arnold M. Howitt, Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, will moderate a panel that includes:

      • Professor Michael W. Golay, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
      • Jun Kurihara, Senior Fellow, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
      • Professor Herman B. “Dutch” Leonard, Harvard Kennedy School & Harvard Business School
      • Professor Shoji Tsuchida, Faculty of Safety Science, Kansai University, Japan

For more on this event please read the Harvard Crimson article. You can see the presentations or view the subsequent discussion and questions.

Sponsored by the Program on Crisis Leadership, the HKS Crisis Management Student Group, and the HKS Japan Caucus.