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.

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).

2020s

• 31st Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2023): "Competing Voices: Protests and Political Activism in Korea"
• 30th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2022): "Korean Fashion: From Royal Court to Runway"
• 29th Hahn Mook-Sook Colloquium (2021): "The Global Enterprise of Translation: Translators, Institution, and Market For Korean Literature"
• 28th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2020): "From Enmity to Empathy: African American and Korean American Communities Since the 1992 Los Angeles Riots"

2010s

• 27th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2019): "Consuming K-Pop: Soft Power, Marketization, and Cultural Appropriation"
• 26th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2018): "Emotion, Culture, and Subjectivity in Korea"
• 25th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2017): "The Tale of Ch'unhyang Beyond Korea:Translation, Narrative, and Performance"
• 24th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2016):"Christianity and Trans-Pacific Connections"
• 23rd Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2015):"Visualizing Royal Ceremonies: Korean Culture through the Ŭigwe Royal Documents of Chosŏn Dynasty."
• 22nd Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2014): "Language, Power, and Ideology in the Koreas: Honorifics and Politeness"
• 21st Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2013): "Korea and Cultural Diplomacy: Politics and Meaning in Arts, Industry, and Civil Society"
• 20th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2012): "Generations: 100 Years of Korean Literature" (program) (press release)
• 19th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2011): "Staging Korea: Korean Theatre in Search of New Aesthetics" (program)( press release)
• 18th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2010): "Medicine, Mental Health and Childhood in Korea" (program)(press release)

2000s

• 17th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2009): "Representing Korea's Visual Culture and Heritage"
• 16th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2008): "Tradition and Modernity in Korean Literature"
• 15th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2007): "Korean Architecture"
• 14th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2007): "Korean Poetry"
• 13th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2006): "Korean Food"
• 12th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2005): "Military"
• 11th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2004): "Education" (Proceedings)
• 10th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2003): "Korean American Writers" (Sigur Center Asia Papers 20)
• 9th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2002): "Cinema"
• 8th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2001): "Music"
• 7th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (2000): "Christianity"

1990s

• 6th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (1999): "Translation"
• 5th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (1998): "Creative Women"
• 4th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (1997): "Writing and Reconciliation"
• 3rd Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (1996): "Shamanism in a Confucian Society: Past and Present"
• 2nd Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (1996): "Views of Enlightenment and Monastic Practice in Korean Son (Ch'an/Zen) Buddhism"
• 1st Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium (1995): "Psyche and Cosmos in Traditional Korean Thought" (GW News)