Randolph-Macon College’s Asian Studies program hosted the annual J. Earl Moreland Lecture on Asia on April 18, 2018. Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers, was the keynote speaker. The Leavers was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017.

“Lisa is an engaging and down-to-earth speaker, who spoke knowledgeably about the issues facing Asian-Americans and immigrants in American society today. She was gracious with her time and enjoyed interacting with students,” says Todd Munson, director of Asian studies and director of Japanese studies. A book signing followed Ko’s lecture.

Lisa Ko
The Leavers, which won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, follows one young man’s search for his mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant who disappears when he’s 11 years old, after which he is adopted by a white family. The book was named one of the best books of 2017 by NPR, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, The Los Angeles Times, O Magazine, and Electric Literature.

Ko’s writing has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2016, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, O Magazine, and elsewhere. She has been awarded fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the MacDowell Colony, among others. Born in Queens and raised in Jersey, Ko lives in Brooklyn.

The J. Earl Moreland Lecture on Asia
Each spring, the J. Earl Moreland Lecture on Asia brings a distinguished expert to the Randolph-Macon campus for a public lecture. The purpose of the lecture is to create greater understanding and interest in Asian affairs through direct contact with distinguished scholars and prominent professionals. Randolph-Macon College is pleased to announce that a Japanese Studies minor was recently approved.

The lecture series was established through a generous donation from the late Dr. Lik Kiu Ding ’49 to commemorate Dr. J. Earl Moreland, who served as president of Randolph-Macon from 1939-1967.

Previous Moreland Lecture guests include Chum Bun Rong, Cambodian Ambassador to the United States and Mexico; writer Evan Osnos; director Jia Zhangke; actress Zhao Tao; Tom Vick, curator of Asian film, Smithsonian Institution; Yunsheng Huang, associate professor of Asian architecture, University of Virginia; author Raj Patel; and Atsuyuki Oike, Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.