Month: September 2022

Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences

“Looking at Mirror Images: The Korean Plight to Find its Place in a New World”

Time: Thursday, October 6, 4:00-5:30pm CT

Location: Social Science Research Building Franklin Room

★Co-Sponsored by East Asia: Transregional Histories (EATRH) workshop★

Please note the unusual meeting time and location!

Abstract: “Looking at Mirror Images” departs from the practice of studying Korea’s relationship with China, its past suzerain; Japan, its colonizer; and America, the leader of the alliance; and analyzes Korea’s imitation of Belgium and perception of Ireland to understand its struggle against colonization. “Looking at Mirror Images” first seeks to explain how Koreans came to emulate Belgium when they were forcibly incorporated into an imperial world order. As the Sino-sphere became dishevelled with the intrusion of the West in the 19th century, Koreans sought to find their place in unfamiliar waters. Korean leaders’ attempt to harness international law to pursue a Belgian model of neutrality was eventually futile. Once colonized, both Koreans and Japanese looked at different phases of British Ireland as role models that Korea should aim to become like. An analysis of the Korean project of emulating Belgian neutrality prior to colonization and Korean thoughts on Ireland, both the Ireland that Unionists envisioned and the Ireland that the Sinn Fein envisioned, after colonization, will offer insights into Korea’s unsuccessful struggle to maintain sovereignty.

Presenter: Hae Uk. Ko is a graduate of the MAPSS program at the University of Chicago. His thesis examined the role that perception of the unfamiliar played in decision-making in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century.

Respondent: Graeme R. Reynolds is a cultural and intellectual historian of early modern Korea with interests in the production and circulation of knowledge, the history of the book, and historiography. He is currently working on a book examining the production, circulation, reception of official histories in the Chosŏn dynasty. He holds a Ph.D. in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University.

Dear colleagues, faculty members, and friends,

The Arts and Politics of East Asia Workshop (APEA) is pleased to announce our Autumn 2022 schedule. The workshop will meet from 3:00-5:00pm in the Autumn quarter unless otherwise noted. As usual, we will send reminder emails with location info prior to every workshop session, along with the link to the pre-circulated papers. Please sign up for our listserv if you have not already to receive those emails.

Autumn 2022 Schedule

October 6th, Thursday (in-person), 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Hae Uk Ko, the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences
“Looking at Mirror Images: The Korean Plight to Find its Place in a New World”
Discussant: Graeme Reynolds, Instructor in History
Location: Social Science Research Building Franklin Room
★Co-Sponsored by East Asia: Transregional Histories (EATRH) workshop★

November 11th, Friday (in-person), 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Yanqing Shen, the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities
“The Death of a Chinese Poet: Lyricism, Voice, and Sociality in Yu Dafu’s ‘Sinking’”
Discussant: Paola Iovene, Associate Professor in Chinese Literature, EALC
Location: Center for East Asian Studies 319 (1155 E. 60th St.)

November 18th, Friday (online), 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Anthony Stott, Ph.D. Candidate, EALC & Comparative Literature
“Context after the West Shinjuku Exit Plaza Incident: Toward an Archipelagic Reimagining of Monumental Urban Space in the Theory and Design of Isozaki Arata”
Discussant: Zhiyan Yang, Ph.D. Candidate, Art History
★Co-Sponsored by Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia (VMPEA) workshop★

December 2nd, Friday (in-person), 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Paola Iovene, Associate Professor in Chinese Literature, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
“Reading Beyond Books: Airing Lu Yao”
Discussant: Siting Jiang, Ph.D. Candidate, EALC and Neil Verma, Assistant Professor of Sound Studies, Radio/TV/Film, Northwestern University
Location: Center for East Asian Studies 319 (1155 E. 60th St.)
★Co-Sponsored by Sound and Society workshop★

December 9th, Friday (in-person), 2:30–4:30 p.m.
Elvin Meng, Ph.D. Student, EALC & Comparative Literature
“From the History of the Book to the History of Reading (Multilingually): An Appreciation of Traces”
Location: The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Classroom

Please feel free to contact Yuwei (ywzhou@uchicago.edu) and Elvin (emeng@uchicago.edu) with any questions you might have, and we look forward to seeing you at APEA this fall!