GIL LATZ
OFFICE ADDRESS
Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs
Office of International Affairs
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
902 West New York Street, ES 2126
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Tel: (317) 278 1265 Fax: (317) 278 2213 Email: glatz@iupui.edu
EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE STUDY
Ph.D., 1986
The University of Chicago (Geography)
 Dissertation research, 1979-1984, Institute of Human Geography,
University of Tokyo
 Language training, 1980-81, Advanced Japanese Studies Center,
Stanford University, Tokyo
M.A., 1978
The University of Chicago (Geography)
B.A., 1974
Occidental College (Religion and English Literature)
 Occidental College year abroad program, 1972-73, International
Division, Waseda University, Tokyo
ADMINISTRATIVE AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs, Office of International Affairs, Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 2012-Professor of Geography, IUPUI, 2012—. Tenured.
Associate Vice President for International Affairs, Office of Vice President for International
Affairs, Indiana University, 2012-Affiliated Philanthropic Studies Faculty, Indiana University, 2013-Vice Provost for International Affairs, Office of International Affairs, Portland State University,
Portland, Oregon, 2002-2011
Executive Director, Waseda Oregon Program, Waseda University, 2010-2011
Professor of Geography and International Studies, Portland State University, 1984-2011. Tenured
1989.
AREA/INTERNATIONAL STUDIES RESEARCH AND TEACHING
Research Interests
Global / Comparative:
The Extended Metropolis in Asia; Political-economy of East Asia; International trade between the
Pacific Northwest and East Asia; Japanese views of and policy toward the Pacific Basin;
Comparative Forest History in Europe, North America, and East Asia; World Regional
Geography; World Geography of Irrigation; Comparative International Curriculum Assessment.
Japan-specific:
Characteristics of the Japanese metropolis; regional development policy; agricultural
development policy; water resource development policy; contemporary and historical irrigation;
religious influences on the cultural landscape; tourism, domestic and international; trends in
Japanese philanthropy and civil society, from 1868 to the present.
Current Research:
20th century foundations of Japanese philanthropic traditions in comparative perspective;
a case study of the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation, Tokyo.
Internationalization/Curriculum development:
Infusing World Regional Geography and Asian content into the undergraduate curriculum;
development of distance education teaching and assessment techniques –print, video, web-based-all levels of education, especially international.
Current Research:
University/ Community Partnerships: Internationalization and the Stewardship of Urban
Places;
the role of universities as partners in metropolitan regional development in a globally
interconnected world.
Teaching Interests:
Geography of Japan, Geography of China, Geography of East Asia, Geography of Pacific Asia,
Pacific Rim Trade, Trans-Pacific Leadership, Political Geography, Developing World, Developed
World, World Regional Geography, History of Ideas in Geography, Tourism, Internationalization
of the Pacific Northwest Economy, Geographic Education. Distance Education related to
international themes noted above.
Between 1984 and 2001, area/international teaching represented 100 percent of my time.
Since 2003, area/international teaching represents 25 percent of my time.
OVERSEAS EXPERIENCE
My professional academic and administrative work has granted me the privilege of interacting
with Europe, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia for some four decades, with a
research focus on and travel to Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, with
the latter my core area of comparative teaching and research interest. Funded overseas research
includes:
 Waseda University, 1972-73
 University of Tokyo, 1979-84 (Monbusho, Japan Foundation, Rotary)
 Haifa University, 1998
 Waseda University and Shibusawa Foundation, annual travel, 1999present.
 University of Florence, 2001-02 (Fulbright Senior Scholar, National
Science Foundation)
 India Seminar, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, 2010 (Fulbright/Institute for
International Education)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2014. Gil Latz, Ed. Rediscovering Shibusawa Eiichi in the 21st Century: The Shibusawa Eiichi
Memorial Foundation, 1999-2014. The Japan Journal: Tokyo, Japan. (2015: Japanese edition
expected)
In Press. Julie F. Hatcher, Mary A. Price, Dawn M. Whitehead and Gil Latz. “Using a
partnership approach in study abroad: Implications and strategies for program design and
assessment”. Invited chapter for: Assessing International Learning: Theory and Practice, Ed. by
V. Savicki and B. Brewer. Stylus. 2015 anticipated publication.
In Press. Gil Latz, Susan Sutton, and Barbara Hill, “Internationalization and the Stewardship of
Urban Places”. Metropolitan Universities Journal. Accepted for publication Summer 2014.
2015 anticipation publication.
2012. Gil Latz. “Asia: Transnational Organizations”. 21st Century Geography: A Reference
Handbook. Joseph P. Stoltman, Editor. Sage Publications, pp. 585-600.
2011. Gil Latz. "The Experience of Place in Japan". Janschitz, Susanne and Lieb, Gerhard Karl
(editors). Nachhaltigkeit – Regionalentwicklung – Tourismus. Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag
von O. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Friedrich M. Zimmermann (Sustainability – Regional Development –
Tourism. Festschrift in Honor of Prof. Dr. Friedrich M. Zimmermann). Graz Studies of
Geography and Regional Science, Vol. 46. Graz, Austria 2011, pp. 201-204.
2010. Duncan Carter, Gil Latz, and Patricia Thornton, “Through a New Lens: Assessing
International Learning at Portland State University”. Journal of General Education Vol. 59, No.
3: 172-81.
2009. G. Latz, Ingle, M., and Fischer, M. “Cross-Border Capacity Building: Selected Examples
of Portland State University’s Involvement in Tertiary Level Educational Reform in Vietnam”.
/Technology Management in the Age of Fundamental Change/. Editors: T. R. Anderson, T. U.
Daim and D. F. Kocaoglu. Portland, PICMET.
2006. Gerald Curtis, Gil Latz, Masato Kimura, eds. Nihon no Chosen (Challenges for Japan).
Tokyo: Shibusawa Ei'ichi Memorial Foundation.
2005. G. Latz. Special Issue on Controversial Issues in Japanese Politics and Society. Guest
Editor. Asian Perspective (Vol. 29, No. 1).
2003. Academic production consultant and Co-Host (with S. Hardwick and J. Binko). Teaching
World Regional and Human Geography: Standards–Content–Methods. The Annenberg/ Corp. for
Public Broadcasting Project/Cambridge Studios.
1992. Mark Borthwick and Gil Latz. The Pacific Century Study and Faculty Guides. Boulder,
CO.: Westview Press. Text developed in conjunction with The Pacific Century, A Ten-part
Educational Telecourse, Corp. for Public Broadcasting.
1991. G. Latz. "The Persistence of Agriculture in Urban Japan: An Analysis of the Tokyo
Metropolitan Area". Norton Ginsburg, Terry McGee, and Bruce Koppel, eds. The Extended
Metropolis: Settlement Transition in Asia. U. Hawaii Press.
1989. G. Latz. Agricultural Development in Japan: The Land Improvement District in Concept
and Practice. The University of Chicago Press, for the Committee on Geographical Studies,
Geography Research Paper No. 225.
1986. G. Latz. Nihon ni okeru kangai ni kan suru waei yogoshu fuzuhyo [Contemporary and
Historical Irrigation in Japan--Selected Terminology and Illustrations--]. Tokyo: The Toyota
Foundation.
GRADUATE STUDENTS SUPERVISED
I have served as Graduate Office representative, Geography faculty representative, or
International Studies faculty representative on a number of Masters and Ph.D. committees in the
areas of Geography, History, Intercultural Communication, Public Administration and Urban
Studies. Two Geography Masters students completed work with me in 2010.
SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS
2014President-elect, 2015, Association of International Education Administrators.
2013-14
Core team project co-leader, Brookings/JP Morgan Chase Global Cities Initiative
Exchange, a collaboration between Brookings Institution, Greater Indianapolis Chamber
of Commerce, the Mayor’s Office, Indianapolis, and IUPUI.
Since 2013-
Co-Chair, with Vice President and Professor Yan Guangmei, IUPUI/ Sun Yat-sen
University (Guangzhou, China) Cooperative Development Committee.
2013-
Assessment Institute (IUPUI). Global Learning Track – Coordinators: Gil Latz, and
Dawn Whitehead, IUPUI, and Darla Deardorff, Duke University.
2013
Gil Latz and Dan Paracka, “Leveraging Assessment for Campus Internationalization”.
AIEA: Association of International Education Administrators Webinar. 6 November
2013.
2013
Elizabeth Brewer and Gil Latz, Cross-Campus Collaboration: Strategies for Successful
Internationalization”. NAFSA: Association of International Educators Webinar. 17 July
2013.
Since 2012:
Senior International Officer, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Since 2012:
Chair, International Program Faculty Advisory Committee, Indiana University Lilly
Family School of Philanthropy.
2012-15
Executive Committee, Association of International Education Administrators, Durham,
North Carolina.
2012-2014:
Project Director, Internationalization Laboratory at Indiana University-Purdue
University, Indianapolis, in collaboration with American Council on Education.
2012-13
Gil Latz, Workshop Leader, Comprehensive Campus Internationalization, Institute for
Campus and Curricular Internationalization, Indiana University (annual).
2011-2014:
Project Director, Rediscovering Shibusawa Eiichi: The Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial
Foundation, 1999-2013.
2002-2011:
Senior International Officer, Portland State University.
2011-2014:
Advisory Group Member, At Home in the World: Educating for Global Connections and
Local Commitments. American Council on Education; funded by the Henry Luce
Foundation. Appointed 2011.
2010-2012:
Selection Jury Chair, Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization,
NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
2010-2011:
Board Member, Waseda Oregon Program, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
2010:
Head of delegation, 10th Anniversary, Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources/ Portland
State University, ‘Sustainable Land-use Training Program’, Beijing.
2009-2014:
Project Director, Transpacific Leadership (curriculum development), Shibusawa Eiichi
Memorial Foundation, Tokyo.
2009:
Project Director, ‘Sustainable Development in Vietnam’ (Faculty Program), Portland
State University/Miller Foundation (2009-10).
2006-09:
Advisory Council, Internationalization Collaborative, American Council on Education,
Washington, DC
2008:
Chair, Nominating Committee: PSU’s receipt of the 2009 NAFSA: Association of
International Educators, Simon Award, Campus Internationalization.
2008:
University representative to the US-Vietnam Technical Advisory Group on Educational
Reform, US Department of State.
2006-2008:
Project Co-leader, with Duncan Carter and Patricia Thornton. FIPSE
Comprehensive Program: Lessons Learned in Assessing International Learning. With
the American Council on Education.
2004-2011:
Chair, PSU/Intel Core Leadership Team charged with identifying support programs for
Vietnam’s engineering education reform; established Intel Vietnam Scholars Program
supporting75 Vietnamese engineering degree students at PSU.
2004-2007:
Project Co-leader. Global Learning for All. American Council on Education.
2005:
Project Director, Tokyo Foundation, program award for development of university
bilateral relationships in Thailand and Vietnam.
2004:
Chair, Nominating Committee, for University’s receipt of the 2005 NASULGC (APLU)
Michael B. Malone International Leadership Award (conferred on Daniel Bernstine,
Portland State University President).
2003:
Consultant, National Geography Society, Washington, D.C. For the 8th edition of the
National Geographic Atlas of the World.
2001-02:
Fulbright Research Scholar, University of Florence, Italy.
1993- 2003.
The Power of Place: World Regional Geography, PBS educational telecourse,
1996, and subsequent iterations, 2003. Served as: Study / Faculty Guide author;
Academic Production Consultant for 26 program telecourse; member of the Advisory
Board; and Corporation for Public Broadcasting Liaison to the Japan, Dutch, and
Australian National Broadcasting Systems.
Since 1976:
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Fellowships: University of Chicago, Rotary Foundation International, Japan Ministry of
Ministry of Education, Japan Foundation, Fulbright Program, National Science
Foundation
Research affiliate: the Conservation Study Institute, US National Park Service and the
Forest History Society;
Academic consultant: Annenberg/ Corporation for Public Broadcasting (e.g. , The Pacific
Century, 1992, the Power of Place: World Regional Geography, 1996 and 2003;
Teaching Geography, 2002, 2003. The Pacific Century received an Emmy and the
Columbia University Silver Baton for Broadcast Journalism (1993); the Power of Place
received the National Council of Geographic Education Excellence in Media Award
(2004); Association of American Geographers; National Geographic Society;
Spannocchia Foundation, Rosia, Italy and Portland; Maine.; and Shibusawa Eiichi
Memorial Foundation, Tokyo.
Contributor: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Editorial Board Member:
University of Toronto Press, Japan and Global Society Series
Journal Editor:
Asian Perspective (Contributing Review Editor)
Global Environment: Journal of History and Natural and Social Sciences
Board and Advisory Group Memberships:
IU Center for Global Health, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Center for the Study of Global Change, Indiana University
Indiana University India Gateway Facility, Gurgaon, India
Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication, IUPUI
Confucius Institute of Indianapolis, IUPUI
Japan America Society of Indiana, Indianapolis
Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
EXPERIENCE SUMMARY: GIL LATZ, Ph.D.
Gil Latz is Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs and Professor of Geography, Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis; and Associate Vice President for International Affairs, Office
of the Vice President for International Affairs, and Affiliated Philanthropic Studies Faculty Member,
Indiana University. Until 2012, he was affiliated with Portland State University, Portland, Oregon; over
his 28 year appointment at PSU, he held positions in: Geography, International Studies, and as Vice
Provost for International Affairs. Dr. Latz is a graduate of Occidental College (BA, 1974). His graduate
research training took place at the University of Chicago (1976-1980; MA, 1978) and the University of
Tokyo (1980-84); in 1986 he was granted the Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Chicago. His
research and publications have focused on: the internationalization of higher education in the US and
Asia; and regional development and resource management policy (agriculture and urban) in East Asia,
North America and Europe. In addition to his longstanding study of the comparative dimensions of
regional development, Dr. Latz conducts research on Japan’s modernization process in terms of the role
played by philanthropy and civic leadership.
Dr. Latz’s secondary interests focus on international trade and educational video development.
The former included a six-year appointment (1987-93) as Executive Director of the International Trade
Institute at Portland State University, an organization with responsibility for conducting foreign market
research opportunities for Oregon businesses. This interest continues with his 2013 appointment as Core
team co-leader, Brookings/JP Morgan Chase Global Cities Initiative Exchange, a project that explores
the role of metropolitan areas in global trade, in collaboration with the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of
Commerce, the Brookings Institution, and IUPUI. The latter interest includes extensive work as an
educational consultant on telecourse development to the Annenberg / Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Project (1987-2005), e.g., The Pacific Century, 1992, the Power of Place: World Regional Geography,
1996; 2003; Teaching Geography, 2002, 2003. The Pacific Century received an Emmy and the Columbia
University Silver Baton for Broadcast Journalism (1993). The Power of Place received the National
Council of Geographic Education Excellence in Media Award (2004).
Dr. Latz is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is married to Celia A. Curfman, a native of West
Lafayette, Indiana, and a fashion designer who resided for 35 years in Venice, Italy.