RIT welcomes back Claire McCurdy Feb. 5

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Rochester native Claire McCurdy, senior editor for International Policy Digest, will speak at RIT Feb. 5 about her research on Japan’s triple disasters—hurricane, tsunami and power plant meltdown— in 2011.

Rochester native Claire McCurdy, senior editor for International Policy Digest, has spent the last year closely following Japan and the world’s response to that nation’s recent string of disasters. Topping news headlines, Japan has endured triple disasters, from a massive tsunami triggered by a major earthquake on March 11, 2011, to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown occurring only hours later.

McCurdy will talk about this response and relief efforts throughout her presentation, “Japan 2011–2012: The Triple Disasters and the Humanitarian Response,” 10 a.m.–noon Tuesday, Feb. 5, in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Ingle Auditorium. The talk is free and open to the public.

McCurdy will be joined via telephone from Japan by RIT alumnus Deven Neel ’10 (international studies) who will share his experiences volunteering with the relief efforts.

McCurdy, who currently lives in New York, began her career as a teacher in Japan, followed by work as an aide at the Japan Trade Center in New York. She began her research on Japan’s triple disaster in July 2011. As senior editor, she has written extensively on international relations, with an emphasis on Japan and the arts. McCurdy’s other research interests include gender and politics, the economy, the Women’s Movement and history of feminisms, architecture and foreign policy. Her paper, “Mental health crisis in Fukushima,” was presented at the annual meeting of the Asian Association for Global Studies, in March, in Tokyo.

McCurdy’s presentation is sponsored by RIT’s College of Liberal Arts. For more information, contact Barbara Bangs at 585-475-2638 or bebdar@rit.edu.