Yale Korean Studies

09/06/2026

Empire in the Everyday: Semi-Governmental Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture in Colonial Korea

Holly Stephens - Lecturer in Japanese and Korean Studies, Edinburgh University

Wednesday, September 9th | 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Sterling Memorial Library, International Room #177

During the colonial period, Korean agriculture underwent significant changes as Japan set out to increase the quality and quantity of agricultural production through the promotion of new forms of scientific and commercial agriculture. This was no easy task, however, and colonial plans were frequently frustrated by farmers and the natural world alike. This presentation examines the day-to-day interactions between Korean farmers and the semi-governmental organizations tasked with implementing colonial agricultural policies at the local level. Through an investigation of the diaries of everyday farmers, this talk provides a new understanding of the ways in which Koreans encountered and negotiated novel forms of agricultural production in their daily lives.

Holly Stephens is Lecturer in Japanese and Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include economic history, agriculture, everyday life, and the emergence of the modern state, and she is currently researching the financial significance of cattle within farming households in Korea. Her first book, Empire by Association: Agriculture and the Reorganization of the Rural Economy in Colonial Korea, is forthcoming from Yale University Press.

04/26/2026

Korean Language and Studies Student Research Symposium
Tuesday, April 28th | 3:00pm - 5:00pm | Luce 203

The 5th Korean Language and Studies Student Research Symposium will take place on Tuesday, April 28 (3-5pm) at Luce 203.

04/07/2026

The Poynter Fellowship in Journalism presents Jonathan Cheng, China Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal: “Power and Faith in North Korea: A Look at the Christian Roots of the Kim Dynasty’s Personality Cult," in Conversation with Professor Arne Westad. This event is free and open to the general public.

04/04/2026

From Side Streets to Center Stage: Reframing Street Food in South Korea
7th Annual Park Memorial Lecture in Korean Studies

Hyaeweol Choi - Stanley Family and Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies at the University of Iowa

Tuesday, April 7th | 4:30pm - 6:00pm | Luce Auditorium (101)

Street food in contemporary South Korea is vibrant, fiercely competitive, innovative, and performative, attracting both domestic and international audiences. Once undervalued and stigmatized as urban eyesores—and largely operated by women—street food has been transformed into fashionable cultural icons and trendy multisensory experiences. How did this transformation occur? This lecture examines the gendered history of street food, tracing its evolution through war, poverty, industrialization, and nation-branding within a neoliberal economy and a global media landscape. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and media analysis, it foregrounds the life histories of street food vendors to offer new insights into enduring and emerging gender dynamics amid shifting geopolitical, economic, and cultural conditions. By historicizing both continuity and change in the politics of gendered culinary labor, the lecture positions street food as a critical lens through which to examine the intersections of the private, the public, and the global.

02/16/2026

The second annual Yale Korean Philosophy of Religion and Theology Graduate Conference (KPRT) will take place at Yale Divinity School (S200, RSV Room) on Friday, February 27, 2026. This year’s conference features keynote speaker Prof. Minjung Noh, Assistant Professor of Religion, Culture and Society at Lehigh University, and highlights 11 student presenters from the United States, Canada, South Korea, and China. Presentation topics include critical reflections on historical trauma and the hermeneutics of liberation, feminist and postcolonial theological critique, and analyses of religious discourse in relation to structures of modernity in the Korean context. Lunch will be provided on the day of the conference.

Register here: https://cglink.me/2dA/r2315756

01/14/2026

Upcoming Event: Sounds of Korea, Gayageum

The Gayageum is a traditional Korean string instrument of the zither family, representing the soul of Korean music. While similar instruments exist across East Asia, the Gayageum is unique in that it is played entirely with bare fingers, without the use of picks or plectrums. This direct contact creates a warm and intimate tone.

Its most distinctive feature lies in the left hand, which presses and shakes the strings to manipulate pitch and create "Nonghyeon"--a deep vibrato and bending technique. This combination produces a dynamic sound that ranges from soft, vocal-like whispers to powerful, percussive rhythms.

Registration: https://yalesurvey.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3NPqSrpzUinMEAe
Program: https://yale.app.box.com/s/wzd82xl27vv5nro0k756k8rjzh8gklco

If you need technical assistance with registration or require additional information, please contact [email protected].

10/17/2025

This fall, Yale Schwarzman Center, in collaboration with Yale MacMillan Center and Yale Hospitality, welcomes the Venerable Jeong Kwan as the third fellow of the Global Table program. A renowned Zen Buddhist nun and chef, Ven. Jeong Kwan is celebrated for her mastery of Korean temple cuisine and sustainable eating practices. Featured on Netflix's Chef’s Table, she draws global attention for her unique approach to cooking, using only ingredients she grows herself. Her new book is out now.

During her residency, Ven. Jeong Kwan will engage with the community, sharing insights into sustainable culinary practices, and showcase a dinner with a menu inspired by her philosophy. On October 22nd, there will be a live conversation and Q&A with Venerable Jeong Kwan herself. In addition to this dinner, Yale Hospitality will learn a number of other recipes from Venerable Jeong Kwan to be served at the Rooted Station in the Commons later in the academic year. Her visit promises to illuminate the connections between sustainability, health, culture, and community.

If you need technical assistance with registration or require accessible accommodations contact [email protected].

Register here: https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/SchwarzmanCenter/rsvp_boot?id=2308070

📸: Veronique Hoegger

05/02/2025

Join us Monday, May 5, 2025, for the 2025 Yale University Korean Language and Studies Student Research Symposium.

This symposium will be from 3:00pm-5:00pm EDT at Room 203, Henry R. Luce Hall.

It will feature an award ceremony for the Advanced Korean Language Study Certificate, followed by 10-minute presentations of research on Korea and the Korean language by six graduating Yale undergraduate and graduate students including:
- John G. Grisafi, PhD in Religious Studies, on "The Complex Construction of Religion in Korea"
- Yeji Kim, Yale College Class of 2025, on "South Korea’s Protectionist Economic Policies in E-Commerce: Historical Foundations, Contemporary Practices, and the Future South"
- Mark Chung, Yale College Class of 2025, on "Across Agitated Waters: Anti-Americanism and Trans-Pacific Solidarities in the South Korean Minjung Movement"
- Caitlin Hong, Yale College Class of 2025, on "Citrus Farming, Tourism, and Globalization: Jeju Island’s Transformation Under South Korea’s State-Led Development"
- Jenny Lee, Yale College Class of 2025, on "I Write in the Wake: Toward a Korean American Feminist Consciousness with KAWA"
- Sam Ahn, Yale College Class of 2025, on "Grief Across the Ocean: Racial Melancholia in Transpacific Theater"

Complete program and further information: https://macmillan.yale.edu/eastasia/events/2025-05-05/2025-yale-korean-language-and-studies-student-research-symposium

04/08/2025

Join us Thursday, April 10th, 2025, for the the Ancient Korea Lecture Series, 4:30pm to 6:00pm, at the Lecture Hall, Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High Street.

The first lecture, "From Foraging to Farming in Prehistoric Korea: A View from Linguistics," will be given by Martine Robbeets, Head of the Language and Anthropocene Research Group at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena.

The second lecture, "Cultural Heritage and Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Neolithic Islanders on Jeju, Korea," will be given by Gyoung-Ah Lee, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.

A reception will follow from 6pm.

More details here: https://macmillan.yale.edu/eastasia/events/2025-04-10/ancient-korea-lecture-series

04/03/2025