[KS] Fulbright Forum May 1

[Horace H. Underwood]

FULBRIGHT FORUM!!

Fulbright in Seoul (the Korean American Educational Commission) is pleased
to invite you to attend the Fulbright Forum for May, which will be held on
Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at 6:30 p.m. at the Commission offices in Mapo.
(Please note that the RAS does NOT have a lecture on May 1.)

The topic this month is "Venture and Culture in Korea Since 1997:
Preliminary Ethnographic Report."  The speaker is Jae A. Chung, a Ph.D.
candidate in anthropology at Rice University and a Fulbright Grantee. (Part
of this research has been supported by the National Science Foundation.)

In 1998, the South Korean government instituted a series of legislative
actions to encourage the growth of its domestic venture industry,
encompassing the venture companies and the venture capital firms. The
legislation was in response both to the global trend towards building up
equity markets, consisting of venture capital companies and volatile
technology-driven bourses, as well as to the intense reform pressures
brought on by the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997. It was seen as a rare
chance to reform the business culture in Korea, which had been criticized in
the past for its rigidity and its heavy reliance on the personal, but
powerful, network system of social markers - school ties, regional
affiliation, and big conglomerate connections.  However, with the abrupt
global slowdown in the venture market that began in 2000, these hopes
quickly faded, revealing in the process cultural tensions about diminished
possibilities of wealth and security, and an increased sense of risk among
the middle class.  This presentation offers a preliminary discussion of the
relationship between the venture market and the surrounding cultural and
historical context in Korea, situating the analysis within the contemporary
anthropological debate on issues of globalization.

We welcome to the May Fulbright Forum all Fulbrighters, senior lecturers and
junior researchers, as well as Board Members, Fulbright alumni, Peace Corps
alumni, Korean studies scholars, foreign graduate students, RAS members, and
any other interested friends of Korea and members of the Fulbright family.

The presentation will be followed by a buffet reception (in lieu of dinner.)
We hope many friends will come to enjoy the lecture, the discussion, and the
food.

Place: Fulbright Building
168-15 Yomni-dong, Mapo-gu
see maps on our website: www.fulbright.or.kr
or call Ms. Park: 3275-4000 for directions
Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2002
Time: 6:30 p.m.

See you on the 1st!

Horace H. Underwood, Executive Director
Korean-American Educational Commission (Fulbright)
Seoul, Korea
hhu at fulbright.or.kr