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Alexis Dudden is an Associate Professor of History and Director of Humanitarian Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is the author of Japan's Colonization of Korea: Discourse and Power (2005), Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the United States (2008) and numerous articles in edited volumes and journals such as Partisan Histories: The Past in Contemporary Global Politics, Japanese Studies and The Journal of Pacific Asia. Dudden has previously taught history at Connecticut College and received fellowships from Harvard University's US-Japan Fellowship Program, the American Historical Association and the Japan Foundation. She holds a PhD and MA in history from the University of Chicago.

Professor Seraphim is a historian of modern and contemporary Japan. Her work has focused on the contested place of Japan's empire and war in Asia in postwar politics, society, and culture. Currently, she is researching questions of nationality and citizenship in the politics of social integration and exclusion, from the aftermath of World War II to the challenges of immigration and ethnic diversity in Japan today. Professor Seraphim offers historical surveys of early modern and modern Japan, topical courses on the Asia-Pacific War and Japanese society since 1945, as well as seminars on the Allied Occupation of Japan, the atomic bombings, and the place of memory in history.

Dr. Nancy Kehoe is a nun (Religious of the Sacred Heart) and distinguished clinician and licensed psychologist. She is an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance affiliated with Harvard Medical School. In her forthcoming book, *Wrestling with our Inner Angels: Faith, Mental Illness, and the Journey to Wholeness,* Kehoe talks about her pioneering work in leading patient groups in the discussion of their religious beliefs and its role in their treatment.

Tan Swiston, married to her best friend, Rob, is a long-time Newton resident, homeowner and working parent, and has always been active in the community. A former IT executive turned real estate agent and a chronic volunteer, Greer is stepping up to the plate to further serve Newton. Greer has been appointed by the Governor's office to serve as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as well as the Judicial Nominating Commission. A community volunteer since childhood, Greer has been a Girl Scout, participated in walkathons, telethons and jumpathons. Following family tradition, Greer has served in the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association (GBCCA) in various capacities for almost 30 years, including Youth Leader, Executive Committee member and currently as a teacher at the Huaxin Chinese Language School for children. Greer has a reputation for bringing people together. Whether it be organizing a companywide weekly sushi social, reviving an alumni club or organizing Newton Parents for Education, Greer appreciates the value of community, communication and comraderie. Making most of those skills, Greer served on the Board of the Newton League of Women Voters of Newton, is currently serving on the Board of NewTV and has volunteered as a tutor for the Newton Public Schools. Greer has participated in fundraisers, field clean-ups and school appreciation activities. She serves as a Girl Scout troop leader, soccer coach, and ran the Little League concession stand at Lyons field for two years. Trained as a software engineer, Greer has worked in the High Tech industry in places like NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs in Pasadena, CA, dot com start-ups along the 128 circle as well as venerable corporations the likes of Fidelity Investments and Merrill Lynch in downtown Boston and Cambridge. Over nearly two decades in the computer industry, Greer rose steadily through the ranks as a respected technologist and moved into senior management rounding out her technical skills with quality control, project management and overall office operations and finance management.

I work on the emergence of nationalism in modern China, both in the early twentieth century and in the contemporary era. I am particularly interested in the impact of China's war with Japan in the 1930s and 1940s on the development of Chinese politics, society, and culture.

Richard Florida is author of the global best-seller *The Rise of the Creative Class*. His latest book, *Who's Your City?* also a national and international best seller. His previous books, especially *The Breakthrough Illusion and Beyond Mass Production*, paved the way for his provocative looks at how creativity is revolutionizing the global economy. Florida is a regular correspondent for the *Atlantic Monthly* and a regular columnist for *The Globe and Mail*. He has written for *The New York Times*, *The Wall Street Journa*l, *The Washington Post*, *The Boston Globe*, *The Economist*, and *The Harvard Business Review*. He has been featured as an expert on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, NPR and CBS, to name just a few. Florida is one of the world's leading public intellectuals on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation. International diplomats, government leaders, filmmakers, economic development organizations and leading Fortune 100 businesses have benefited from his global approach to problem-solving and strategy development.

Harvard graduate and author of five books (including two national bestsellers), Broughton Coburn is a premier authority on the culture and environment of the Himalaya, where he has lived and worked for two of the past three years