Celebration Party for Awarding of the Title “William Heard Kilpatrick Professorship of Comparative Education” (Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi)

A celebration was held at Kobe University Restaurant Sakura to honor Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi of Teachers College, Columbia University, who will be awarded the title of William Heard Kilpatrick Professorship of Comparative Education, named after the giant of educational philosophy. The celebration was attended by Prof. Keiichi Ogawa, Prof. Aiko Sakurai, Associate Prof. Katsuki Sakaue, and 35 current and former students of the Ogawa Zemi from Kobe University. From outside Kobe University, Prof. Yume Yamaguchi (United Nations University), Prof. Kazuo Kuroda (Waseda University), Prof. Taiji Hotta (Hiroshima University), Dr. Miwoko Saito, and two postdoctoral researchers, one from the University of Hawaii and another from Kyoto University.

The celebration followed the hybrid symposium “Exploring the Global Reform Scripts of Development Partners: Comparative Retrospective Analysis” held on the same day. Dr. Yume Yamaguchi of the United Nations University, a panelist in the panel discussion at the symposium, gave the toast. Prof. Yume Yamaguchi was the first student to receive her Ph.D. from the Teachers College at Colombia University under Prof. Gita Steiner-Khamsi. She recalled her memories of Prof. Gita Steiner-Khamsi, including episodes from her oral examinations at the final defense.

After a group photo was taken of all the participants with Prof. Gita Steiner-Khamsi, a video message was shown to congratulate her, which was prepared by Prof. Keiichi Ogawa, Prof. Aiko Sakurai, Associate Prof. Katsuki Sakaue, and students from the Ogawa Zemi. Once again, Prof. Yume Yamaguchi (United Nations University), Prof. Kazuo Kuroda (Waseda University), and Prof. Keiichi Ogawa congratulated Prof. Gita Steiner-Khamsi with warm messages. The celebration party concluded with thoughtful words from Prof. Gita Steiner-Khamsi.