The 2025 Graduate Conference in Korean Studies will be held on Friday, February 7th and Saturday, February 8th at the 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.
The program for this year’s conference can be found below. For a pdf version of the conference program, please click here: 2025 Grad Conference in Korean Studies Program
Friday, February 7th
| 8:15-8:45 | Registration and Morning Refreshments |
| 8:45-9:00 | Welcoming Remarks by the Organizing Committee |
| 9:00-10:20 | Panel 1. Sinitic Heritages in Korea and Beyond |
| Kayeon Roh (U of Southern California) | Emperor at Home, King Abroad: Coexistence of Multiple Emperors in Historical East Asia |
| Nick Allaman (Ohio State U) | A Great Youth of the 80s: Han Wŏn’guk and a Vision of the New Chosŏnjok Self |
| Alan Dai (UC, Los Angeles) | Colonial Modernity and the Connected Literary Histories of Korea and Vietnam |
| Discussant | Miya Qiong Xie (Dartmouth U) (virtual) |
| 10:30-11:50 | Panel 2. (De)constructing Space and Race |
| Chul Namgung (UC, Los Angeles) | Life as Exception: Post-imperial Racialization of Zainichi Koreans in the U.S.-Occupied Japan |
| Heejin Kim (Duke U) | Disappearing Skins: Reading Absence through Yi Sang and Na Hye Sŏk |
| Janine Sun (U of Southern California) | Effacing Place: Divergent Worldbuilding and Cultural (De)specificity in A-1 Pictures’ Solo Leveling |
| Discussant | Youngmin Choe (U of Southern California) |
| 11:50-1:30 | Lunch Break |
| 1:30-2:50 | Panel 3. Religions as Sites of Resistance |
| Marie Koh (Seoul National U) | The Transformation of Jeonggamnok and Mount Gyeryong: Prophecy, Politics, and Religion in Korean History |
| Fiona Xu (U of Southern California) | Why They Abandoned the Secular World: Double Deviance in 1980s Korean Buddhist Nuns’ Autobiographies |
| Discussant | Lori Meeks (U of Southern California) |
| 3:00-4:20 | Panel 4. Critical Perspectives on South Korean Political Theory and Law |
| Dohyung Kim (UC, Irvine) | The Primitive Accumulation in South Korea and the Confinement of Puranga |
| Damhee Shin (George Washington U) | The Revitalization of the United Nations Command: The New Cold War and East Asian Security Dynamics |
| Aiden Kim (UC, Irvine) | South Korea’s Immigration Policy Shift: Diversification and Exclusivity |
| Discussant | Pil Ho Kim (Ohio State U) |
| 5:00 | Dinner with Conference Participants |
Saturday, February 8th
| 8:15-9:00 | Morning Refreshments |
| 9:00-10:20 | Panel 5. Reading and Living Transgender Korea |
| Christina Jang (UC, Los Angeles) | Relational (Mis)readings of the Trans Body and Envisioning Trans Feminism(s) in Kim Bi’s Novels |
| Yeon Jae Hwang (UC, Los Angeles) | Examining the Relationship among Experiences of Multiple Familial Discrimination, Queer Community Connectedness, Internalized Transphobia, and Depressive Symptoms among South Korean TGNC Individuals |
| Jiyun Gu (Asian Center for Women’s Studies) | Between the Aesthetic and Essential: Reframing Plastic Surgery as Medical Transition for Transgender Women in South Korea |
| Discussant | Judy Han (UC, Los Angeles) |
| 10:30-11:50 | Panel 6. Media and the Environment across the Transpacific |
| Minji Kim (U of Southern California) | Reforestation and State-Sponsored Films in South Korea |
| Haerin Do (UC, Irvine) | Translating Archives: Transpacific Reception of Nam June Paik’s TV Garden at the 11th Videobrasil |
| Heejoo Kim (Princeton U) | Virtual Water: Perceiving Contemporaneity in the Korean Video Art circa 2010 |
| Discussant | Akira Lippit (U of Southern California) |
| 11:50-1:30 | Lunch Break |
| 1:30-2:50 | Panel 7. Queer Representations and Politics in Contemporary Korea |
| Shiyi Zhao (U of Southern California) | Queering Impotence in Korean Cinema – The Case of Park Hae-il |
| Adam Miller (UC, Irvine) | Spectacular Sexuality: Queer Revenge in Jang Cheol-soo’s Bedevilled (2010)
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| Sungwon Heo (UC, Davis) | Writing Tattered Dream: Queer Student Politics in South Korea |
| Discussant | Ungsan Kim (U of Washington) (virtual) |
| 3:00-4:20 | Panel 8. Gender, Reproductive Politics, and Feminist Possibilities? |
| Daphne Yang (U of Southern California) | A Quiet Revolution: The Effect of Gender Inequality on Birth Rate Decline in South Korea |
| Da In Choi (UC, Los Angeles) | Practicing Care: Comfort and Feminist Activism in South Korean Documentary
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| Soojin Jeong (UC, Irvine) | Hidden Labor, Visible Conflicts: Marriage Migration and Social Reproduction in South Korean Reality TV show, ‘Mother-in-Law, Daughter-in-Law: A Multicultural War’ (2013-2021)
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| Discussant | Laura Kang (UC, Irvine) |
| 4:30-5:00 | Closing Remarks by Professor Sunyoung Park, Director of the Korean Studies Institute |
| 6:30-8:30 | Dinner with Conference Participants |
Important Dates and Deadlines
Deadline for paper proposals: Friday, November 15th, 2024
Notifications of acceptance: Monday, December 2nd, 2024
Deadline for paper submissions: Monday, January 20th, 2025
Conference Date
Friday, February 7, 2025 – Saturday, February 8th, 2025*
*Due to the scale of this year’s conference, the organizing committee has decided to extend the conference into a two-day event.
Application Process for Paper Proposals/Discussant
Students can apply as a panel or as an individual.
For paper proposals: please e-mail your CV a 250-word abstract to uscksigradsymposium@gmail.com.
For panel proposals: please include both a panel abstract as well as individual abstracts for each panelist.
If accepted to present, completed papers must be submitted by Monday, January 20th, 2025 for distribution to discussants and participants.
Questions can be directed to Jay Lee at lee550@usc.edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can a paper I submit here be submitted elsewhere for presentation or publication?
A: Papers used for this conference do not have any restrictions in publishing or use before or after the conference.
Q: Is there any financial support for travel?
A: There is no funding for travel or accommodations.
Q: Is a PowerPoint required for the presentation?
A: No, you are not required to use PowerPoint.
Q: What is the panel format?
A: Each presenter gets 7-10 minutes, followed by discussant feedback and audience Q&A with time remaining after all presentations. More detailed guidelines will be sent out to accepted presenters and discussants.
Q: My paper is not just on Korea – can I still apply?
A: Papers with Korea in comparative contexts are eligible to apply, as well as papers on non-Korea Asian and Diaspora topics.
Q: Can Masters students apply?
A: Preference will be given to Ph.D. students but Masters students are welcome to apply.
Q: Will this year’s conference be virtual or have a virtual option?
A: Currently, we do not have plans to host the conference online or to include a virtual option.