Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium

 

Established by the EALL Department in 1995, the Hahn Moo-Sook (HMS) Colloquium, is one of the oldest and most significant academic outreach programs in the humanities at the George Washington University. This annual meeting provides a forum for discussion of Korean humanities on the arts, history, language, literature, thought and religious systems that shape all areas of Korean studies in the context of East Asia and the world.

The HMS Colloquium series is made possible by an endowment gift from the Hahn Moo-Sook Foundation that honors Hahn Moo-Sook (1918-93), one of Korea’s most honored writers, to uphold her spirit of openness, curiosity, commitment to education, and intercultural exchange.

Hahn Moo-Sook 1918-1993

Hahn Moo-Sook (1918-1993)

 

Current Conveners

  • R. Richard Grinker, Professor Anthropology & International Affairs & Human Sciences, GW
  • Gregg Brazinsky, Professor of History and International Affairs, Director of the Asian Studies Program, Director of the Sigur Center, GW
  • Jisoo Monica Kim, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures, Director of GW Institute for Korean Studies, GW
  • Immanuel Kim, (Current lead convener) Korea Foundation and Kim-Renaud Associate Professor of Korean Literature and Culture Studies, GW
  • Celeste Arrington, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW
  • Young-Key Kim-Renaud, Professor Emeritus of Korean Language and Culture and International Affairs, GW

 

History

The HMS Colloquium in the Korean Humanities series was established in 1995 with an endowment from the gift of the Hahn Moo-Sook Foundation in Seoul. The colloquium is named for Hahn Moo-Sook (1918-93), who is an acclaimed Korean writer.

Based in Washington, D.C., the colloquium series at GW invites participants to discuss the Korean humanities and Korea’s growing international presence in culture and academics. The speakers are world-renowned leaders in their fields.

Started with an enthusiastic response from the Greater Washington community, the HMS Colloquium has grown even more popular, with various organizations including the Korean Embassy, the Smithsonian Institution and other universities in the Washington metropolitan area joining GW to organize programs in the Korean humanities. The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences has been a founding sponsor, and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies has been a sponsor since 1998. Other parts of GW have collaborated with the program in various capacities, according to the topic of a particular colloquium.

In 1998 a special conference was organized to discuss Korean women's creativity from the 15th century to the 20th century, to commemorate the 5th anniversary of Hahn Moo-Sook's passing and the 15th anniversary of the Korean Language and Culture Program at GW. The resulting volume, Creative Women of Korea: The Fifteenth through the Twentieth Centuries, was published in 2003 by M. E. Sharpe in Armonk, New York, one of the major publishers in the United States.

 

Past Programs

The department has also published past colloquia presentations as a book (1998) and monographs (since 1999).