June 2009 Faculty Visit: Looking Like the Enemy (Matsuda Gruenewald)

Post date: Jan 07, 2010 10:59:21 PM

Ruth MacNaughton led the initiative to organize our faculty speaker for this year: professor Floyd Cheung on Thursday, June 18. Ruth was very impressed with professor Cheung when she attended an alumnae college lecture he gave at reunion last year. The lecture was based on his "Narratives of Internment" class about the WWII Japanese internment camps. We asked him to select a book for us, and he wrote: "I've decided that Mary Matsuda Gruenewald's Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camps would work best. It covers the history well while also telling a personal story. I can supplement the book with selected poems and film clips during my presentation."

Catherine writes this report:

Many of us were delighted to hear Professor Floyd Cheung speak in the lovely home of Aimee Fisher last June 18th in Piedmont. He spoke about Japanese internment from World War II based on Mary Matsuda Gruenewald's Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camps.

Most, if not all, of the group in attendance were fascinated by the subject and simply had not learned enough in school about World War II internment. As for the speaker and the book, the opinions varied widely. Several participants enjoyed the professor's asking us our thoughts, opinions and input. Others wished for a more directed, thought-provoking seminar with questions put to us for discussion. Although the book was emotional and based on one woman's personal history, a few of us thought it was whiney and written from a naive perspective. Having varying views, though, made for a lively and interesting discussion. Indeed we continued to have conversations about the book, its subject and the professor's method for the next two book club gatherings!

Thanks to Aimee for hosting for the third year in a row!