[KS] Monash University Korean Studies Seminar Events

Tue Aug 19 05:08:58 EDT 2025

Dear KS list members, please note the following online event. Please
register using the Google form and a ZOOM link will be sent to you one day
prior to the seminar. Hope to see you there. All the best, Sandy

*Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) presents:*

*Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2025*

*'Leaving it All in the Ring: Pro Wrestling and Reconciliation in North and
South Korea.'*

Professor Roald Maliangkay (ANU)

Room 331, Learning and Teaching Building (LTB), Monash Clayton VIC 3168 &
via ZOOM

18th September 2025, 5pm AEST (Melbourne time)

*Bio*
Roald Maliangkay is Professor in Korean Studies at the Australian National
University. He specialises in the history of Korean popular culture and
enjoys exploring the consumption of what are commonly considered
non-essentials. He is the author of *Broken Voices: Postcolonial
Entanglements and the Preservation of Korea’s Central Folksong
Traditions* (2017)
and co-editor of *K-pop: The international rise of the Korean music
industry* (2015).

*Abstract*

In the early 1960s, pro wrestling became a popular form of entertainment in
South Korea. Shows featuring male and female athletes, and a few affected
by dwarfism, repeatedly sold out. The fast-growing popularity of the fake
fighting theatre put the authorities on notice. As it was keen
to normalise relationships with its former coloniser,
organising bilateral events in the sport, which was hugely popular in
Japan, carried much potential. What is more, the sport’s biggest star in
Japan was Rikidōzan, who was born in Korea. In early 1963, Park Chung-hee
invited the wrestler to come to Korea to
help organise bilateral wrestling events. While many bilateral events would
take place after, Rikidōzan was murdered in December that year by a member
of the yakuza. His legacy would live on, nevertheless, though ironically
more so in North Korea than in the South. In the two years leading up to
what would be the world’s largest-ever pro wrestling event, held in
Pyongyang in April 1995, North Koreans were told about the wrestler’s past,
his love of Kim Il Sung, and how he was forced to hide his proud North
Korean identity for decades. In this talk I discuss the importance of pro
wrestling in North and South Korea. I argue that even though the sport has
been used as a way of facilitating bilateral exchanges and reconciliation,
due to its violence and its association with Japan and the United States,
it has served as a conduit for patriotism, and ethnic masculinity.

Register here <https://forms.gle/xt78gtM7oqxwQ57w8> for a ZOOM link.

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*Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) presents:*

*Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2025*

*'The Effects on a Lifetime – The Life Force of 5.18'*

David L. Dolinger, Ph.D

via ZOOM

25th September 2025, 3pm AEST (Melbourne time)

*Bio*Graduating from college with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology, David
had little direction or understanding of where his life would go. But he
knew that he wanted to contribute, to make a difference. This led to the
Peace Corps and south Korea. From April 1978 onwards he found himself in
south Korea. David was sent to rural Jeollanam Province, Yeongam County
where he worked as a tuberculosis case worker in the county health centre.
He spent most of his free in his beloved Wolchulsan, hiking and climbing.
Then life started to get interesting, starting in October of 1979 and the
spring of 1980. He found himself in the middle of the turbulent events of
Gwangju. He and other Peace Corps volunteers refused the orders of the U.S.
Embassy to leave the city, wanting to stay, witness what was happening,
help as they could. Because of the life decision that he had he was
summarily dismissed form the Peace Corps. But he has not regretted the
decisions that were made at that time, they have helped to lead him to
where he is today and has help to strengthen the decisions he has made and
things that he has been willing to stand up and fight for. During his time
as a Peace Corps volunteer, he developed tuberculosis, and it made him
realized that proper diagnostics were the key foundation of good healthcare
regardless of socio-economic status or where one was in the world.
Returning home, David received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology
from Temple University School of Medicine and has since focused his career
on *in vitro* diagnostics (IVDs) and medical devices (MDs). Through his
career he has developed and commercialized innovative and impactful assays
for infectious disease (e.g. HIV, HCV, tuberculosis, etc.), but always with
a focus on neglected diseases, and solutions that focus on the individual
and the pathway that they must follow to regain their health. This approach
as lead to major paradigm shifts in diagnostics for HIV and tuberculosis.
In addition to a fulfilling life in diagnostics he has had time to have a
family, travel the world, travel back to and reconnect with Korea. In
addition to his many adventures, scientific publication he has publish his
first autobiographical book which provides insight into what he witnessed,
the people he met and what he did in Gwangju during those turbulent times
in May of 1980.

*Abstract*I can’t say that any of us, foreigners who were in Kwangju in May
of 1980, had any idea as to what we were witnessing, what we would do, how
our lives would end up. I can only say that I have tried to take my live
one day at a time, on my terms but have let my experiences from May of 1980
help to guide me down my path. Being there, witnessing the violence, the
bravery, the sacrifices have long term affects on a young impressionable
mind. I was twenty-four years of age, very young and very naïve compared to
the other twenty somethings that I would meet over those days in May. At
that time, I was living in Yeongam, about an hour’s bus ride southwest of
Kwangju, I was a resident of Chollanam Do, I was affected by those around
me. During the spring of 1980 I witnessed aspects leading up to 5.18. I
felt people’s hope, despair and fear but I also felt a deeper drive, a
force. I witnessed the hope on Friday the 16th, the aftermath of the 18th.
We had no idea on the 18th and 19th what was going to follow, I went back
to Yeongam, I had a job, I had individuals with TB that I need to attend
to. But I made the decision to return to Kwangju on Wednesday May 21st,
Buddha’s birthday. Without bus service and the ability to pay the hefty
taxi fees I walked back into Kwangju. Later, I and other Peace Corps
volunteers made the key decision not to leave even when ordered by the U.S.
Peace Corps and U.S. Embassy. In the intervening days prior to the military
re-invading the city I was in constant contact with the citizen and student
leaders, spent time in the Provincial Office building, I was the only
foreigner to have free entry into the Provencial Office building. I
translated for foreign journalist, visiting hospitals, did what I thought
could help. At time it was just listening to people, listening to their
stories. Following the re-invasion of the city, we Peace Corps volunteers
were removed from the city. I was forced to resign from the Peace Corps and
was told that I should immediately leave the country as I could no longer
be protected by the U.S. Embassy and that the Korea government had
threatened my life. I did not leave, I stayed, I became more involved.
Kwangju opened my eyes, I view it as the city of my birth, as a human. The
pain has stayed with me every day, but it has also provided a mindset of
never accepting no, or it is not possible, as an answer. For me personally
it has allowed me to approach my career in multiple different directions
and with a viewpoint which others do not have nor can provide. But there
are questions that I ask everyday of myself, can I do more, could I have
done more, have I done enough, how can I ensure that truth is disclosed,
how can I educate others. I never want to forget the pain, the emotions,
the memories of what occurred during 5.18. I also want others to know the
story of 5.18, how some people lived their all too short lives, how they
were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

Register here <https://forms.gle/Lwhyu6QWLtGstkom7> for a ZOOM link.

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*Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) presents:*

*Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2025*

*''Non-native Korean Speaking Teachers: The Elephant in the Room of Korean
Language Education.'*

Dr Nicola Fraschini (University of Melbourne)

Room JG04, 33 Innovation Walk, Monash Clayton VIC 3168 & via ZOOM

16th October 2025, 3pm AEST (Melbourne time)

*Bio*
Nicola Fraschini is Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies and Director of the
Global
Korea Research Hub at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on
individual differences in Korean language teaching and learning, and on the
application of Q methodology to language research. He is co-editor of the
volumes
Advancing language research through Q methodology (2024, Multilingual
Matters),
Enabling learning: Language teaching for Australian universities (2024, ANU
Press),
Innovative methods in Korean language teaching (2025, Routledge), and
The Korean
case for youth language learning (2026, Routledge).

*Abstract*

During the past two decades, the field of Korean language education has been
quantitatively and qualitatively boosted by several policies and
initiatives introduced
by Korean governmental institutions in light of the growing interest
towards learning
the Korean language in both domestic and overseas contexts. While, on the
one
hand, such policies provided a formal recognition of the language teaching
profession, on the other hand, affected by the narrative of Koreaness, they
have
almost completely ignored the expertise of non-native Korean speaking
teachers
(NNKSTs) and their needs. This presentation provides an analysis of the main
policies and initiatives of the past 20 years and their relevance for the
training of
Korean language teachers in general and NNKSTs in particular. Then, through
a
consideration of the author’s research conducted on NNKSTs’ competencies, it
advocates for more recognition of NNKSTs’ expertise and for the adoption of
a
dynamic model of teacher competencies that could leverage on NNKSTs’ context
knowledge to support the development of Korean language learning in global
contexts.

Register here <https://forms.gle/bevV3nkPKb8V49Au8> for a ZOOM link.

Please contact Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub Coordinator
Ms Sandy Nguyen for further details.

Sandy.Nguyen1 at monash.edu <Sandy.nguyen1 at monash.edu>

__________

Kind Regards,

Sandy Nguyen

*MUKSRH Coordinator*

Website: Monash Korean Studies Research Hub
<https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/korean-studies-research-hub>

Facebook: MonashUniKorean <https://www.facebook.com/monashunikorean.edu/>

Twitter: @MonashUniKorean <https://twitter.com/MonashUniKorean>
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