Center for Korean Studies Celebrates 40 Years

November 8, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Center for Korean Studies Add to Calendar

One of America's top experts on Korea will keynote an observance November 8 of the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the University of Hawaii Center for Korean Studies.

Victor D. Cha will speak on the topic of Korea scholarship and policy at the event, which begins at 10 a.m. in the Center for Korean Studies auditorium.

Cha is director of Asian Studies and holds the D.S. Song Chair in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is also senior adviser and holder of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. From 2004 to 2007, Cha served as director for Asian affairs in the National Security Council with responsibility for Japan, North and South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island nations. He also served as the U.S. deputy head of delegation for the Six-Party Talks.

The Center for Korean Studies was established by the University Board of Regents in 1972, the first such institution in the United States. With nearly forty affiliated faculty members in a broad range of disciplines, the Center represents the largest concentration of Korea-focused faculty in any academic institution outside of Korea.

The November 8 program will also include special recognition of two individuals for their signal contributions to the Center: the late Min Kwan-Shik and Donald C. W. Kim. As minister of education of the Republic of Korea (1971-1974), Min played an instrumental role in securing Korean government support for the construction of the building that houses the Center. Kim, a University alumnus and former member of the Board of Regents, has long been a friend of Korean studies and has played a role in every major Center fundraising drive. He embodies the close connection between the Center and the community.

The program will also feature remarks by the Center's four former directors and performances of Korean traditional music and dance by Music Department graduate students Seola Kim and Hae In Lee and Mary Jo Freshley, director of the Halla Huhm Korean Dance Studio.

An afternoon roundtable discussion on the future of Korean studies will cap the day's events. Edward J. Shultz, dean of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies and a former Center director, will moderate the discussion. Other participants include Victor Cha, former Center director Dae-Sook Suh, Prof. Charles Armstrong of Columbia University, and Center faculty members Chizuko Allen and Christopher Bae.


Event Sponsor
Center for Korean Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Merclyn Labuguen, 956-7041, merclyn@hawaii.edu, http://www.hawaii.edu/korea/

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