[KS] Upcoming Programs at UC Berkeley Center for Korean Studies

Wed Apr 18 18:18:26 EDT 2012

Upcoming Programs at UC Berkeley Center for Korean Studies

Edible Origins: Finding Food, Symbols and Society in Early East Asia

Panel Discussion | April 23 | 4:30-6:30 p.m. |
<http://www.berkeley.edu/map/3dmap/3dmap.shtml?kroeber> Hearst Museum of
Anthropology

Featured Speaker: June-Jeong Lee, Anthropology, Seoul National University

Panelist/Discussants: Lisa Janz, University of Arizona; Seungki Kwak,
University of Washington

Moderator and Panelist: Junko Habu, Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:
<http://intl.aks.ac.kr/english/portal.php?sid=fe954fda29bbbfd7013e642f728e4f
00> Academy of Korean Studies,  <http://ieas.berkeley.edu/> Institute of
East Asian Studies (IEAS),  <http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cks/> Center for
Korean Studies (CKS), Hearst Museum of Anthropology,
<http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/> Department of Anthropology,
<http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cjs/> Center for Japanese Studies (CJS),
<http://ieas.berkeley.edu/ccs/> Center for Chinese Studies (CCS),
<http://www.arf.berkeley.edu/> Archaeological Research Facility

Featured Speaker: June-Jeong Lee, Seoul National University 
"Food Production in Korea: Its Socioeconomic and Symbolic Meaning"
The mysteries of Northeast Asia's prehistoric migration, exchange, and
development are explored through an examination of when and how the first
domesticated plants and animals were introduced to Korean peninsula. The
adoption of first domesticates, such as rice and swine, was not only an
economic breakthrough, but resonated across the realms of the social,
political, and symbolic life of the community.

Panelist/Speaker: Junko Habu, University of California, Berkeley
"Jomon Food Diversity and Long-term Sustainability: Lessons from Prehistoric
Japan"
This presentation focuses on the mechanisms of settlement growth and decline
in complex hunter-gatherer societies of prehistoric Japan. Early and Middle
Jomon (ca. 6000=4000 years ago) archaeological data from northern Japan
indicate that the loss of food diversity and an expansion of the scale of
society may have negatively affected long-term sustainability of prehistoric
hunter-gatherer societies. Through an examination of this case study, it is
argued that archaeology is critical in our understanding of long-term
human-environmental interactions. 

Panelist/Speaker: Lisa Janz, University of Arizona
"Dune-Dwellers: Post-Glacial Hunter-Gatherers and Early Herders in Mongolia"
New analysis of old archaeological collections from the Gobi Desert indicate
that following the last Ice Age, between about 8000 to 3000 years ago,
hunter-gatherers began to intensively occupy and exploit dune-field/wetland
environments across the arid steppes and deserts of Northeast Asia. This
oasis adaptation overlaps with the Early Bronze Age and the rise of nomadic
pastoralism in Mongolia. Several intriguing clues suggest that dune-dwelling
hunter-gatherers may also have been the first herders, raising questions
about their relationship with neighboring agriculturalist and pastoralist
groups.

Panelist/Speaker: Seungki Kwak, University of Washington
"Tracing prehistoric subsistence: Application of Organic Geochemistry
Analyses on Potsherds from Ancient Korean Peninsula"
This study attempts to understand prehistoric human subsistence in Korean
peninsula using organic geochemistry analyses on potsherds. Organic
geochemistry Analyses has contributed to archaeology in various cases
including ceramic studies since its initial application. While other
approaches are focusing on reconstructing the ancient pot function such as
use-wear analysis and ethnographic studies, organic geochemistry analyses on
archaeological ceramics endeavor to be precise about types of food groups
that was cooked or stored within a pot by attempting to isolate and identify
the specific organic compounds trapped in the fabric of its wall. Since
organic compounds are often preserved in direct association with
archaeological ceramics, organic geochemistry analyses have become an
important method of investigation which archaeologists use to better
understand the function of ceramic artifacts and local diets. If we conduct
these analyses on the pottery from different locations, we will be able to
understand past subsistence behaviors even in the absence of faunal or
floral remains. The direct examination of the remains of resources in the
Korean peninsula is limited to shell middens, because the high acidity of
sediment does not allow long-term preservation of bone or plant remains.
Therefore, organic geochemistry analyses could be the most suitable method
in this setting. This research will provide a unique chance to understand
ancient subsistence through the direct examination of potteries: the most
wide-spread material culture in the prehistoric Korea.

Event Contact:  <mailto:ieas at berkeley.edu> ieas at berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809

_________________________________________________________

"Poetry (Shi)": Screening of a South Korean Film by Lee Chang-dong

Film - Feature | May 1 | 6 p.m. |
<http://www.berkeley.edu/map/3dmap/3dmap.shtml?athletic> Institute of East
Asian Studies (2223 Fulton, 6th Floor)

Film Introduced by Jinsoo An, Assistant Professor, Department of East Asian
Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  <http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cks> Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

South Korean film "Poetry" (Lee Chang-dong, 2010) is an exquisite portrayal
of woman's brave fight against Alzheimer's, and against her guilt over her
grandson's brutal crime. Mija, played by Yun Jung-hee, is an aging part-time
maid and full-time guardian of her apathetic grandson. Concerned by her
frequent forgetfulness, she takes a poetry class at the local arts center to
sharpen her mind. She begins to appreciate the wonders of the natural world,
but a schoolgirl's suicide initiates a chain of tragic events that will
change her life forever. (Source: Kino International)

Note: This film will be screened in its entirety (139 min.) in Korean with
English subtitles.

Event Contact:  <mailto:cks at berkeley.edu> cks at berkeley.edu, 510-642-5674

For more information, call (510) 642-5674 or e-mail cks at berkeley.edu
Information about CKS events is available at http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cks/ 

If you would like to be removed from the CKS mailing list, please visit
http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cks/mailing.html 

Dylan Davis

Program Director

Center for Korean Studies

University of California, Berkeley

2223 Fulton Street, Room 508

Berkeley, CA 94720

510-642-5674

http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

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