[KS] Korean Confucianism conference announcement

[Richard Miller]

*"Roundtable Conference on Religious Dimensions of Korean Confucianism"*
*at the **University** of **Wisconsin** – **Madison**, **Pyle** 
**Center**, **702 Langdon Street**, **Madison**, **WI**
February 9 & 10, 2007 (**1 pm - 5 pm** on Friday and **8 am - 5 pm** on 
Saturday)*

Hosted by the Center for East Asian Studies and the Department of East 
Asian Languages & Literature at UW-Madison,
with support from the Korea Foundation and the Anonymous Fund at 
UW-Madison.

*Featured speakers include (listed in alphabetical order):*

*Donald Baker*, Associate Professor, Department of Asian Studies, 
University of British Columbia
*Michael Kalton*, Professor, Graduate Faculty, Interdisciplinary Arts & 
Sciences, University of Washington, Tacoma
*Youngmin Kim*, Professor, Department of Political Science, Seoul 
National University
*Shinhwan Kwak*, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Soongsil University

This conference seeks to examine both the religious dimensions of 
traditional Korean Confucianism and its modern reception. The 
transformation of Confucian thought as it adapted to and transformed 
Korean ethics and social relations has long been a subject of serious 
scholarly research. The "Roundtable Conference on Religious Dimensions 
of Korean Confucianism" will focus on this subject through the lens of 
the category of religion.

Confucian studies in general has seen a shift to appreciating the 
religious elements of the various dimensions or sub-traditions of 
Confucianism. The work of scholars such as Tu Wei-ming, Rodney Taylor, 
and Asano Yuichi have re-examined Confucian traditions, bringing to bear 
comparative and theoretical perspectives from religious studies. This 
conference brings together some of the most distinguished scholars of 
Korean thought to treat issues such as the supernatural elements in 
Tasan’s philosophy, the place of nature in Neo-Confucian philosophy, the 
interaction between politics and religion and the making of orthodoxy, 
and the religious dimensions of daily Neo-Confucian practice. The 
roundtable format will also allow the participants to address the 
underlying issue of where the study of Korean Confucianism stands 
relative to the broader shift to addressing Confucianism as both a 
philosophical and a religious system.

Another goal of this conference is to bring together both faculty and 
graduate students, older established scholars and young beginning 
scholars, and U.S. and Korean scholars of Korean Confucianism. The 
scholars who study Korean Confucianism in the U.S. are a scattered group 
who often work in isolation, and we expect that a conference to share 
our work with each other will help stimulate further collaboration among 
these far-flung scholars. An additional goal of the conference is to 
publish the papers presented in a special issue of an appropriate 
scholarly journal to share the fruits of this conference with other 
scholars.

*_Registration Deadline_: **Feb. 1, 2007**. *Registrations will be 
accepted after the deadline on a space available basis. Registration is 
free.

*_To Register:_ *Please complete and send the *“Registration Form” 
*available on the Center for East Asian Studies website 
http://www.eastasia.wisc.edu <http://www.eastasia.wisc.edu/>. If you 
have questions about registration, please contact Jimi Kim, Department 
of East Asian Languages & Literature, Email: jkim66 at wisc.edu 
<mailto:jkim66 at wisc.edu>

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for East Asian Studies, **University** of **Wisconsin** - 
**Madison***
333 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI 53705
Tel: 608/262-3643 Fax: 608/265-2919
Email: eas at intl-institute.wisc.edu <mailto:eas at intl-institute.wisc.edu>
Website: http://www.eastasia.wisc.edu <http://www.eastasia.wisc.edu/>

-- 
Acting Associate Director
Center for East Asian Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison