[KS] East Rock Institute 50th Anniversary Conference

[Robert Provine]

Press Release
Contact Person:
Hesung Chun Koh
203-624-6266
203-624-8619
Conference websites: www.ericonference.org; www.teachkoreacorps.org

March 3rd, 2005
We take great pride in announcing East Rock Institute’s 50th Anniversary Conference, 
“Bridging Cultures: Trailblazers and Visionaries,” which is being held at the Yale 
University Campus from April 8th-10th.  This conference is being organized by East Rock 
Institute in cooperation with the Yale Korean Graduate Students Association, and is being 
funded by the Korea Foundation, the Overseas Koreans Foundation, Academy of Korean Studies 
and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the Korea Daily.

This conference celebrates over half a century of ERI’s commitment in promoting cultural 
understanding between the east and west, with particular emphasis on the US and Korea. 
The conference will provide an arena for dialog, learning, and networking for young 
professionals, aspiring students and teachers, and community leaders.

ERI’s long-awaited project, Teach Korea Corp, is the title of an innovative national pilot 
project designed to further understanding in multicultural classrooms with information 
that is relevant, interesting, and useful.  The current Connecticut high school curriculum 
contains no more than a page and a half of general information on this highly important 
country.  We wish to correct this omission while promoting a positive understanding 
between the U.S. and Korea. Such a mutual understanding is urgent, due to North Korea’s 
status as the most dangerous country in the world.  With this national pilot project, we 
can help both teachers and students to gain cross-cultural competency, which is becoming 
increasingly important due to the rapidly paced globalization taking place in the world 
today.  After the initial project is launched, we expect this enhancement to set the 
standard in high school curriculums.


This conference includes a rich variety of art in the form of music and dance, including:
•	Lecture by an eminent scholar of Korean aesthetics
•	Slide lecture by a internationally renown Korean American architect
•	Korean Intangible National Treasure # 27, featuring the art of Buddhist Dance
•	an award winning quartet
•	the notable Yale Singing Group
•	an innovative composer and performer of Korean traditional string music and western jazz

We have enclosed the latest draft of our conference schedule and registration information 
(or visit our website at www.eastrockinstitute.org).

We hope you will be able to join us in this wonderful ground breaking experience, and look 
forward to hearing from you soon.

If you have any question please call or write to the following:

Debra Tillolson or Leo Youngjun Kim at  203-624-8619 or
Email:  eri3 at pantheon.yale.edu


Sincerely:

    Conference Co-Chair
Robert G. LaCamera, MD and Charles C.S. Kim, MD
Young Professionals Retreat Chair: Christopher Park, MD and Ph.D.