Faculty, Student, and Alumni News

We are saddened to learn that Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, and one of the most instrumental faculty in building and maintaining the Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh, passed away at his home in Hawaii on July 24th, 2025. Keith Brown dedicated his career to learning about Japanese society and culture and taught generations of Pitt students about the value in understanding human diversity through ethnographic participant observation. His scholarly contribution is in having translated the experience of people living in the Japanese town of Mizusawa into terms that generalize their experience with modernization to the world as a whole. At the University of Pittsburgh Keith was a dedicated teacher and a strong, determined, and effective advocate for Asian Studies. While serving as Director of the Asian Studies Center in the 1980s he firmly established the strength upon which we continue to build.
 
In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be made to the Keith Brown and Ruth Brown Graduate Student Research Fund, or the L. Keith Brown Undergraduate Scholarship in Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, through www.giveto.pitt.edu or by mail to the University of Pittsburgh, Office of Institutional Advancement. More information can be found below.
 
"Leonard Keith Brown, 92, died peacefully at his home in Hawaii Kai, Oahu on July 24, 2025. A beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, he was a friend to everyone he met. Keith was born in Ames Iowa and spent his childhood on the Iowa State University Department of Agronomy crop research farm run by his father, Charles Norman Brown, while his mother Verna Brown, was a schoolteacher, and later an administrative assistant at ISU. His parents taught Keith the value of hard work and education. Like his 2 brothers before him, he was the captain of the football team and student body president of Ames High School and soon joined them, along with his sister, at Iowa State University. At ISU he joined the choir of the Collegiate Presbyterian Church where he met the love of his life Ruth, whom he married in 1955, thus beginning 60 years of wedded bliss. Following graduation from ISU, he was commissioned into the Marine Corps and achieved the rank of Captain. He was fortunate to be stationed at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station in Hawaii where he and Ruth began their life together and their 2 sons were born. Keith was a proud marine and had the great honor of administering the oath of service to the National Guard to his granddaughter Alex in 2019.
 
Recognizing that he wanted to work in cultural studies, Keith applied to and was accepted into the graduate program of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, where he received his PhD in 1963. His daughter was born during exam week. He began his field work in Japanese studies in Mizusawa, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, where his hosts showed amazing hospitality to him and his young family, thus beginning a warm and abiding friendship with the people of Japan. His research was funded by the National Science Foundation, NIMH, Fullbright-Hays and over 50 years of repeated visits to Mizusawa he studied kinship patterns and cultural adaptation to industrial modernization. In 1966 he joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh and there began his more than 40-year career at Pitt where he became Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Director of Asian Studies. As chair of the Japan Council at Pitt, he was instrumental in developing strong economic ties between Pittsburgh and Japan. In 1995, he was honored with The Order of the Sacred Treasure bestowed by the Imperial Office in honor of his “outstanding contributions to furthering Japanese Studies and promoting academic exchange between Japan and the United States”.
 
While at Pitt, Keith taught the always popular Intro to Anthropology course, as well as many graduate level courses and became a mentor to many of his students. He always felt his lasting legacy at Pitt was to inspire and encourage many new generations of Anthropologists and Japan Studies experts. These students have become accomplished teachers and researchers in their own right and have repaid his efforts many times over.
 
After a sabbatical at the East West Center in Honolulu, HI, Keith and Ruth grew to love the islands and would spend half the year in Honolulu and half the year in Pittsburgh for the next 20 years. Keith permanently relocated to Honolulu in 2022 when he moved to the Ivy, a senior living facility in Hawaii Kai, HI. At the Ivy, he enjoyed the company of many bright and accomplished residents over leisurely meals in the Dining Room. In later years, his hearing deficit made communication more difficult, but he was never too shy to try.
 
Keith was on his college tennis team and his love for the sport endured over the next 6 decades even with his often-grueling travel schedule. He was a lifelong member of the Edgewood Tennis club and continued to play until his 80s. He especially enjoyed the after-tennis pizza dinners and developed some enduring friendships which have lasted to this day. After his retirement at the age of 70, he began to play golf more regularly and this became his new passion. His golf buddies in Pittsburgh and Honolulu became his best friends in life during his senior years.
 
Keith is predeceased by his beloved wife Ruth who passed away in 2016, his sister Elsie Huber, and his brothers Norman Brown and Wayne Brown. He is survived by his children Gordon (Rio) of Maui HI, Gary (Betty) of Glens Falls NY, Deborah of Houston TX, his grandchildren Matthew, Ryan (Erin), Kayla (Jeff), Noah (Hannah) and Alex, and 6 great grandchildren Elias Keith, Bo, Jayna, Ariella, Taelyn, and Ezekiel. He will be dearly missed by his family. His family would like to thank all his friends, colleagues, and students who helped to make his life so meaningful. A special thanks to the staff at The Ivy in Hawaii Kai who were attentive and kind in his final years.
 
A private burial will be held at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii where he will be interred next to his wife Ruth. A Celebration of Life service will take place sometime later. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Keith Brown and Ruth Brown Graduate Student Research Fund, or the L. Keith Brown Undergraduate Scholarship in Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, through www.giveto.pitt.edu or by mail to the University of Pittsburgh, Office of Institutional Advancement, 128 N. Craig St. Pittsburgh PA 15260."

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Japan America Society of Pennsylvania (JASP) and the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center jointly hosted the 26th Annual High School Japanese Speech Contest. The contest was held in person at the William Pitt Union at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday, March 3.
 
This year, 46 students from Western PA presented their speeches, participated in Japanese cultural activities, and watched a special presentation by Pittsburgh Taiko. Japanese language students of all levels and students who are involved in Japan-related cultural activities participated in one of five speech levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced, advanced plus, and heritage) or the poster contest. Participating schools were Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh Japanese School, Shaler Area High School, and Upper St. Clair High School. Students from Shaler Area Middle School submitted artwork for a vote during the awards ceremony. Students from Pittsburgh Obama Middle School visited the activities fair.
 
Shrida Devaki from Upper St. Clair High School won first place in Advanced Plus level. Shrida received smart earbuds as the grand prize donated by the Consulate General of Japan in New York. First place in the Heritage category went to Hirai Shuda, Pittsburgh Japanese School/Pittsburgh Obama High School.First place in the Advanced category was awarded to Quinne Vulakovich from Shaler Area High School. First place in the Intermediate category went to Kathryn Luft from Shaler Area High School. The first place in the Beginner category went to Conner Hyatt from Upper St. Clair High School. Finally, first place in the Poster competition went to Lindsay Ross from Upper St. Clair High School.
 
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Elliott Group, Temple University Japan Campus, Japan Foundation Los Angeles, the Japanese Consulate General of New York, University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center, the Japan Iron & Steel Federation and Mitsubishi Endowments at the University of Pittsburgh, and all participating schools, students, and volunteers.
 
About The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania:
Established in 1986, The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania is an association ofindividuals, corporations and organizations that seek to promote local understanding of andmutually beneficial participation in the changing US-Japan relationship. The Society providesinformative, innovative programming in order to encourage a better understanding of thebusiness, cultural, social, educational and political practices and customs of Japan and the UnitedStates. More can be learned about the JASP at our website: http://japansocietypa.org/.
 

On Saturday, January 28th, people from all over globe tuned in to listen to a online book discussion on Indian Cinema. In connection with the publication of 25 essays in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Indian Cinema (2022), the co-editors, Neepa Majumdar (University of Pittsburgh) and Ranjani Mazumdar (Jawaharlal Nehru University) invited six speakers to engage with the keywords archives, technology, circulation, and bodies as they relate to the book and to the fields of film and media studies and South Asia studies. The speakers at this Zoom event were: Mark Betz (King’s College, London), Manishita Dass (Royal Holloway, University of London), Vinzenz Hediger (Goethe University Frankfurt), Priya Jaikumar (University of Southern California), Juan Llamas-Rodriguez (University of Pennsylvania), and Rosie Thomas (University of Westminster).
 
The Asian Studies Center was proud to help host this event and support increased interest in South Asia as a whole, and Indian culture more specifically. The Asian Studies Center always seeks to highlight distinguished accomplishments by the Pitt Community such as Prof. Majumdar's new book.

Pitt has won 12 concurrent U.S. Department of Education awards that will support teaching, research and learning about five different world regions, key world languages and overarching global themes.
 
All six of the University Center for International Studies’ global and area studies centers have been chosen to receive both National Resource Center grants and Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships by the federal government. These competitive awards will bolster the work of Pitt faculty and their students with more than $11 million in funding over the next four years.
 
“The University of Pittsburgh is dedicated to preparing our next generation of global leaders,” said Chancellor Patrick Gallagher. “And — as this news shows — the team behind our University Center for Institutional Studies has positioned our international and global studies programs to be among the best in the nation. It’s both an exceptional achievement and a well-deserved one.” 
 
The six centers are: Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, European Studies Center, Center for Latin American Studies, Global Studies Center and Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.
 
National Resource Center funding will allow all six centers to maintain and expand existing programming, broadening the University’s student and community engagement and offering global perspectives. Current center initiatives include teaching foreign language and area studies courses, offering study abroad opportunities to students, showcasing the immigrant communities of Pittsburgh and bringing international visitors and academic research to Pitt.
 
“We are very excited that the excellent work done by all of Pitt's global and area studies centers is recognized at this level. This is a historical achievement,” said Ariel Armony, vice chancellor for global affairs and director of UCIS. “The unprecedented number of awards places Pitt in a top group of global institutions that offer the best international research and learning experiences to all students."
 
The six centers also have plans for expanded programming moving forward, including advancing initiatives to promote diversity, inclusion and equity within area studies; supporting course development to foster essential skills to students engaging in international careers; developing a consortium of colleges and universities across Appalachia to expand access to foreign language and international studies courses; and increasing the teaching of endangered and less commonly taught languages such as Quechua (an indigenous language of South America), Irish Gaelic, Twi and Slovak.
 
Foreign Language and Area Studies funding will directly support Pitt students as they seek to become proficient in less commonly taught languages and deepen their knowledge of related regions. Target languages include Portuguese, Arabic, Russian and Swahili, among others. This funding will finance as many as 280 graduate and undergraduate students with academic year and summer fellowships over the next four years.
 
Starting in the spring of 2023, students will be able to apply for Foreign Language and Area Studies funding through the UCIS website.