This interview features highlights of some of the bigger questions Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR Executive Director, asked in a follow-up interview with Professor Frank S. Ravitch about his Keynote Presentation on Japanese government officials visiting Yasukuni Shrine. Professor Ravitch also discusses Japanese Constitutional Law, Yasukuni Shrine, a “Colour-Bind” US constitution and more.
Professor Frank S. Ravitch
Frank S. Ravitch is Professor of Law and the Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law and Religion at the Michigan State University College of Law, and Director of the Kyoto, Japan Summer Program. He is the author of several books: Marketing Intelligent Design: Law And The Creationist Agenda (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011); Masters Of Illusion: The Supreme Court And The Religion Clauses (NYU Press 2007); Law And Religion, A Reader: Cases, Concepts, And Theory, 2nd Ed. (West 2008) (First Ed. 2004); Employment Discrimination Law (Prentice Hall 2005) (with Pamela Sumners and Janis McDonald); and School Prayer And Discrimination: The Civil Rights Of Religious Minorities And Dissenters (Northeastern University Press, 1999 & paperback edition 2001). Professor Ravitch has also published a number of law review articles addressing US and Japanese constitutional law, law & religion and civil rights law in leading journals. Moreover, he has written a number of amicus briefs addressing constitutional issues to the United States Supreme Court.
In 2001, Professor Ravitch was named a Fulbright Scholar and served on the Faculty of Law at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. Currently, he directs the Michigan State University College of Law Japan summer programme. Professor Ravitch regularly serves as an expert for print and broadcast media, and speaks on topics related to US Constitutional Law, Japanese Law and Israeli Law to a wide range of national, international and local organisations. He speaks English, Japanese and Hebrew.
Professor Ravitch was a Keynote Speaker at The Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy 2014 (ACERP2014). His Keynote Presentation addressed the constitutional rights and the ethical dilemma regarding Japanese government officials visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
