Biography
Hiroko Harada, recipient of the Foreign Ministry’s Commendation for FY 2022 from the
Japanese Government, is Professor and Coordinator of the Japanese Program and Director
of Montgomery Dickson Center for Japanese Language and Culture. She is the author
of Aspects of Post-War German and Japanese Drama: Reflections of War, Guilt, and Responsibility
(2000). She also a co-author of Monty’s Kakehashi (bridge) to Tomorrow (2014), an
online textbook for advanced Japanese learners. She has translated two books and numerous
materials related to the Battle of Attu (the battle between Japanese and American
Armies during World War II) for the National Park Service and U.S. Army Center of
Military History (2009-2018). She is currently working on Disaster Preparedness Drill
Book, collaborating with our partner university, Iwate University. Harada has contributed
to the establishment of two exchange programs with Hokkaido University of Education
and Iwate University, co-established the UAA-HUE Internship Program, and cofounded
Alaska Japanese Speech Contest and Alaska Association of teachers of Japanese, which
will mark the 16 the contest this past spring (2019), and together launched the Alaska
Japanese Language Pedagogy Workshop. Harada also organized numeral cultural and educational
events, established a friendship relationship with Rikuzentakata-city. She has created
a Japanese Tea Room, “Monty’s Room,” on campus, with a Rasmuson Foundation Grant,
for students to experience Japanese culture first hand. For the most recent event
she received an Alaska Humanities Forum Grant to invited two 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
Laureates. She is a recipient of the 2015 American Association of Teachers of Japanese
Teacher Award, and Pacific Northwest Council for Languages (PNCFL)'s 2021 Ray Verzasconi
Northwest Postsecondary Educator of the Year award.
