Professor Ch’en Shou-yi  陳受頤 (1899-1978), one of the leading Chinese scholars of the 20th century, was known to his students at Pomona College as a devoted, inspiring teacher par excellence, who applied the philosophies of Confucius, Zhu Xi, and John Dewey to his role as the pioneering head of Asian Studies at Pomona. As an educator, Dr. Ch'en shaped the lives and careers of countless students during his many years of teaching in China and the United States. Anthony Chambers studied with Dr. Ch’en, often met and corresponded with him after graduation, and kept his class notes, syllabi, supplementary course materials, and letters received from Dr. Ch’en. Drawing on this material and vivid memories of their interactions, Chambers will describe Dr. Ch’en’s philosophy of education and what it was like to be one of his students. 

This talk also serves as a concluding event celebrating the year-long Exhibit in Honor & Memory of Professor Ch'en Shou-yi, which is on display at the Asian Library through March 7, 2025. Attendees of this event will have the opportunity to join a guided tour of the exhibition either prior to or after the talk. 

This talk is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided starting at 2:45 p.m. You can also watch this talk online via Zoom by registering here.

About Anthony H. Chambers
Anthony H. Chambers (Pomona College class of 1965; M.A. Stanford, Ph.D. Michigan), was a student of Ch’en Shou-yi from 1963 to 1965 and stayed in close touch until Dr. Ch’en’s death in 1978. For 43 years, Professor Chambers taught Japanese language and literature at Arizona State, Wesleyan University, and the Associated Kyoto Program Center, before retiring in 2014 as Professor Emeritus of Japanese at ASU. He has translated Tanizaki Jun’ichirō and many other Japanese authors, and is the author of The Secret Window: Ideal Worlds in Tanizaki's Fiction, Remembering Tanizaki Jun’ichirō and Matsuko, and Tales of Moonlight and Rain: A Study and Translation, for which he received the Japan-US Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature. He currently lives in San Diego.

Special Thanks
Many thanks to Pomona College Professor Samuel Yamashita of the History Department for co-organizing this special guest talk with the Asian Library of The Claremont Colleges Library. We also thank our co-sponsors at Pomona College, which include: the Asian Studies Program, the Asian Languages and Literatures Department, and the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations.