A Farewell to Mr. Kuwana

Over his two years at Deerfield, Kiyomasa Kuwana taught five sections of Asia in World History and received an M.S.Ed from the University of Pennsylvania after completing the Penn Fellow program. As a new faculty member during the pandemic, Mr. Kuwana was thankful for the guidance from colleagues such as Dr. Friends, feedback from his students, and discussions on pedagogy with fellow Fellows that shaped him as an educator. Outside of the classroom, he grew to know the wider Deerfield community as a dorm resident in MODS and Field, in which he recognized each student’s rich and multifaceted lifestyles, and as the Girls JV Squash coach, where he felt inspired by their resilience and competitive spirits. He also served as the co-advisor of the Asian Student Alliance, noting his appreciation for student activism and active inclusivity toward students of Asian descent. In the future, he plans to travel domestically to delve deeper into Asian American histories and to Japan, Korea, and Spain to learn more about World War II.

Bonnie Pang ’24, who was in Mr. Kuwana’s Asia in World History class last year, said, “One thing he did really well is that he tried to connect current issues to any subject matter we had in the class, which made the class feel more relevant. I appreciate that he tried to make the class beyond what it said in the syllabus. [For instance,] when the Asian-American shootings happened after spring break last year, we read articles about it and listened to podcasts. It proved how whatever we were learning about would be useful.”