2024-2025 Events

🕗 February 19th, 2025

📍 Doheny Memorial Library (DML), 240

Born in post-war Korea, Dr. Ryoo overcame significant economic hardship to become a renowned radiation oncologist with a career spanning over 50 years. Throughout her career, she has treated countless cancer patients and earned prestigious awards. This program will feature music, a Q&A session, discussions, and networking opportunities for students, scholars, and the public, making it a unique and engaging event. This isn’t your typical lecture! Join us for an exciting, fun-filled event with great music and engaging content. Light refreshments will be provided.

* RSVP is required.

Hosted by USC Korean Studies Institute

Co-sponsor: USC Libraries Korean Heritage Library

🕗 February 7th & 8th, 2025

📍 USC Ronald Tutor Campus Center, Franklin Suites (Rooms 350/351/352)

This year we have a wide array of papers that span the humanities and social sciences placing emphasis on  research related to Korea, East Asia, or Asian diasporas.

This conference aims to foster a multidisciplinary community of local and regional graduate students whose research projects significantly engage Korean society and culture across the periods. It offers a platform for emerging scholars to present their work-in-progress, receive feedback from faculty and peers, and participate in interdisciplinary discussions within a supportive environment.

For a pdf version of the conference program, please click here: 2025 Grad Conference in Korean Studies Program

🕗 February 6,  2025

📍 Taper Hall of Humanities (THH), 309K

Anyone genuinely curious about what makes South Korean pop culture tick should look no further than Gangnam. Having been wildly celebrated by an unlikely K-pop superstar called Psy in 2012, it is the epicenter of Hallyu, the Korean Wave. Gangnam is an exclusive zone of wealth and privilege that has lured pop culture industries to take root and flourish since the 1980s. But at the same time, Gangnam is widely regarded as a breeding ground for ‘social evil’ (sahoeak) in South Korea as it has firmly established itself as the shrine of the unholy trinity of Korean capitalism: real estate speculation, adult entertainment/sex industry, and college-prep private education business. Gangnam’s foul sense of place, associated with such social evils as organized crime, sex work, and overheated educational competition, has helped create compelling villain characters in South Korean film and television drama. Moreover, Gangnam often makes the evil contagious to other characters, who become complicit either in evil acts perpetrated by villains or in corrupt social institutions. By analyzing Yeon Sang-ho’s animation The King of Pigs (2013) and Yoon Jong-bin’s film Beastie Boys (2008) as the main visual texts, this talk will take an unflinching look at the dark side of South Korean society ranging from school bullying to entertainment industry scandals to misogynistic violence, all of which have provided compelling narratives for an increasing number of Hallyu media products.

This book talk is co-organized by the USC Korean Heritage Library and the USC Korean Studies Institute

🕗 November 13, 2024

📍 Doheny Memorial Library (DML), 240

While South Korea successfully transitioned from nearly four decades of authoritarian rule to a parliamentary democracy, the high-level political democratization of post-1987 was also enmeshed with all-out neoliberal restructuring following the 1997 financial crisis. The consequent deepening of inequality and poverty, leading to extreme polarization of the society, along with disappointments with political reform, has resulted in the widespread sense of defeat and pessimism embodied in the discourse of “de-democratization;” that is, despite the hegemony of democratic rhetoric and political democratization, democracy in South Korea is in crisis.

This presentation argues that despite the widespread despair, a broad spectrum of civil society has made equally determined and vociferous efforts to demand and work for democratization in all spheres of life. It explores the political horizons and social imaginaries of these movements, which compel rethinking the meaning of democracy and broadening the existing concept of social movements.

🕗 November 12, 2024

📍 Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Family House (AHN), 100

Mr. Ko Young-hwan, President of the National Institute for Unification Education (NIU), will deliver a talk on the Republic of Korea’s unification policy, specifically the 8.15 Unification Doctrine. He will also provide insights into the North Korean political system, drawing from his extensive experience as a North Korean diplomat and interpreter for Kim Il-sung.

President Ko defected to the Republic of Korea in 1991 after over a decade of service in central and East Africa, including his first posting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since his defection, he has held several key positions in the Republic of Korea, including special aide to Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho and vice president of the Institute for National Security Strategy.

*This event will be in Korean. Interpreters will be on standby for Q&A.

🕗 Friday, October 18

📍 Annenberg Auditorium (G26)

Renowned for their remarkably active, passionate, and omnipresent fanbase, K-pop artists enjoy unparalleled exposure and engagement on the global stage. From sold-out world tours to staggering album sales, K-pop is making its mark.

Behind the Scenes of K-pop is an exciting, all-day symposium featuring insiders and experts who will foster conversations about the art, culture, business, and future of the international music sensation.

🕗 October 16, 2024

📍 Doheny Memorial Library (DML), 240

In Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, former The Nation editor Margaret Juhae Lee recounts her travels in Korea in search of the lost traces of her grandfather Lee Chul Ha. While the elder Lee was an important historical figure—an anticolonial activist and a prisoner of Imperial Japan—Lee’s journey eventually opens her up to a recollection of the events, the generations, and the history of her entire Korean family. It is an experience of self-discovery that, in heartfelt prose, offers a rare account of the Korean past as it is seen, remembered, and imagined today from across the sea.
Introducing and framing Lee’s discussion of Starry Field will be a presentation of the print collections and the digital archives that are held at USC’s Korean Heritage Library. Part of Lee’s journey was completed through this library. And it will again be from this library that new generations of historians, researchers, and regular citizens will move to discover their Korean heritage along with the richness and depth of the Korean-American experience.

🕗 October 9th, 2024

📍 Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Family House (AHN), Front Lawn

Join us on the front lawn of the Ahn House as we celebrate Hangul Day! This event brings together students as well as people from the community to celebrate the Korean language. The Hangul Day event is co-organized by the Korean Language Program, Korean Heritage Library, the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, and the USC Korean Studies Institute.