[KS] The Third Biennial Melbourne Metropolitan Korean Studies meeting

Danae Smith danae.smith at monash.edu
Wed Jun 15 05:03:47 EDT 2022


Dear all,

The Third Biennial Melbourne Metropolitan Korean Studies meeting is coming
up this Friday -this one-day workshop will showcase the latest research of
senior Koreanists from different Australia-based universities and provide a
space to discuss current challenges facing Korean Studies.

Time: Friday June 17 2022, 10am - 5pm AEST (in-person registrations open at
9am)
Location: Monash University Sport Centre Premiers room / Zoom
Register here: https://forms.gle/56orrUGiTbGWF3KZ9

This event will feature the following presentations:
Session 1: The Korean Peninsula

Why don’t you come out and change society? Coalition politics inside South
Korea’s candlelight rallies of 2016/17

Presenter: Dr David Hundt

South Korea’s candlelight rallies played a decisive role in ending Park
Geun-hye’s presidency in early 2017, but little is known about how the
disparate cross-class coalition of interests inside the rallies held
together. Drawing on interviews with activists and first-time or infrequent
rallygoers, this article finds that there was broad consensus among
participants on three major issues: the historical significance of the
impeachment crisis, the need to practise a democratic ethos during the
rallies, and the need for the crisis to usher in a new and better phase of
national politics. The consensus, we illustrate, helped prevent further
democratic decline in the short-term, but did not definitively bring South
Korea into a new era of politics.


Soju advertising from 1960 to the present: A journey through 60 years of
visual culture and language

Presenter: Dr Lucien Brown

In this talk I report the initial findings of an analysis of over 800 soju
print adverts spanning 60 years. I demonstrate how soju advertising
developed “harder” imagery and language during the 1980s, which then
transitioned to “softer” images and the use of female models from the
1990s. Since then, the imagery of soju ads has continued to evolve, showing
evidence of shifting gender roles and changes in the idealized image of
women. Whereas previous studies (Harkness 2013) have shown changes in the
social semiotics of soju adverts from the 1980s to the 2000s, this study
contextualizes these changes within a wider historical timeframe.


Knowledge production of "security" in the Asia-Pacific

Presenter: Dr Maria Rost Rublee

Knowledge production about what constitutes "security" varies around the
world. In this presentation, I discuss research on security studies within
the Asia-Pacific, examining journals and topics over a 10-year period. In
particular, I highlight trends in Korea and around Korea.


Session 2: North Korea

Climate change adaptation in North Korea at the
environment-security-governance nexus

Presenter: Dr Ben Habib

In a 2010 article published in Asian Survey, I argued that North Korea did
not have the adaptive capacity to buffer the climate change impacts
predicted for the Korean Peninsula. Repeated climate shocks were likely to
exacerbate the pre-existing weaknesses of the food system and place
significant stress on an already fragile DPRK state. Only ten years later,
those climate impact predictions are coming to pass, as evidenced by the
2020 typhoon season. In this presentation I will evaluate what has held up
and what has changed from the picture painted in my 2010 article, and
pinpoint potential near- to medium-term risks at the nexus of climate,
governance and security.


North Korea as a method

Presenter: Dr Jay Song

The paper reviews methodological trends in North Korean studies, mainly in
social sciences, over the past two decades. It aims to demonstrate the
evolution of data and methodologies employed by scholars in the field by
focusing on three methods—statistical analyses, interviews, and theory
testing—as well as to examine benefits and challenges associated with each
methodology. The study finds that data and methodologies have become
significantly diversified and sophisticated with increased accessibility to
digitized North Korean materials, multidisciplinary eclectic methods, and
computational analytical tools used by a new generation of scholars. At the
core, it is the validity of data that can genuinely contribute to
evidence-based scientific investigation. It also highlights that
researchers’ epistemological barriers can seriously undermine the
transparency in data and research design. Self-reflection,
crossexamination, and rigorous peer review can further advance the quality
of North Korean studies.


Session 3: Australia-Korea relations and education

Developing future business leaders to advance the Australia-Korea
relationship

Presenter: Prof. Patrick Butler

Successful international trade relations and deep political, economic and
social ties between Australia and Korea require the engagement and
development of next-generation business leaders. Each national cohort has
important lessons to learn from the other, including strategic perspectives
and capabilities in the areas of business culture, manufacturing,
marketing, innovation and service sector productivity.

Insights from Monash Business School and Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)
Business School exchange programs and student visits at MBA and Executive
MBA levels are developed.


Transitional Justice in Korea: A Role for Australia?

Presenters: Dr Danielle Chubb and Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings

This presentation will discuss an Academy of Korean Studies funded project
titled ‘Transitional Justice in Korea? A Role for Australia,’ awarded in
2020 and completed in 2021. The presentation will explore some of the
challenges of designing the project, finding funding, and pivoting an
in-person workshop methodology to an online space. It will also cover the
project’s publications and preliminary findings, as well as present
potential future directions.


The Future of Korean Studies in Australia: Challenges and Opportunities

Presenter: Prof. Bronwen Dalton

Many of the challenges facing Korean Studies in Australia are similar to
the challenges facing Australian universities - government funding is
declining, competition from non-traditional providers is growing; pressure
to create new sources of income is rising; students are more forthright
about getting value for money and are seeking more enhanced digital
learning experiences. More broadly, these challenges emerge in the context
of increasing volatility in our region and heightened pressures on both
economies. More profound, the climate change crisis presents humanity its
greatest existential threat. In this context we must rethink the how we
deliver Korean Studies education and also prepare students to follow their
passions in new ways that meet changing expectations and ensure graduates
can thrive in these uncertain times. The good news is that these challenges
also present Korean Studies its greatest opportunities. In particular,
there is a great opportunity to develop ICT enabled lifetime
fit-for-purpose learning  and for-purpose learning in ways that further
enrich and expand academic curriculums and programs and connect students
with their passion for social change; become a vehicle for engagement with
our region in ways that deepen the strategic Australian-Korean partnership
in ways that lead to mutual prosperity and build more resilient democracies
in both countries; and, through seizing new opportunities for research
funding from industry and philanthropy, resource a rapid acceleration of
the research standing of the field. BUT the other good news is that, for
Korean Studies, this is much more about propelling a trajectory rather than
changing course.

Please also see the attached program for this event for more details.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at danae.smith at monash.edu should you
have any queries.

Best wishes,
Danae Smith

--
Danae Smith

Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) Research Assistant
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