[KS] Book Talk by Professor Kornel Chang: A Fractured Liberation

[Ruth Barraclough]

Please join us online or in person for a talk by Professor Kornel Chang on
his new book *A Fractured Liberation: Korea Under US Occupation*

*Speaker: *Kornel Chang, Professor of History and Chair of the History
Department, Rutgers University-Newark

*Moderator: *Kyu Dong Lee, Ph.D Student, Department of History, Columbia
University

Professor Chang will deliver a talk on his new book *A Fractured
Liberation: Korea Under US Occupation *on *Thursday November 6, 2025 at 4pm*
.

With the collapse of the Japanese Empire in August 1945, the Korean
peninsula erupted with hopes and dreams that had been bottled up for nearly
forty years. Drawing from his new book, *A Fractured Liberation: Korea
under U.S. Occupation* (Belknap/Harvard, 2025), Kornel Chang discusses how
liberation was experienced across southern Korea—by leaders, activists,
peasants, workers, and women—and how U.S. occupation authorities reshaped
and narrowed those possibilities. While American military officials often
prioritized stability and anti-communism, Korean and American reformers
pushed competing agendas of democratization and reform. Their stories
reveal the contingency of this moment and the roads not taken, reminding us
that division and war were not inevitable.

*Kornel Chang* is Professor and Chair of the History Department at Rutgers
University-Newark. His writings focus on the history of U.S. immigration
and foreign relations, particularly with East Asia. His newest book, *A
Fractured Liberation: Korea under U.S. Occupation* (Belknap/Harvard
University Press, 2025) is a narrative history of southern Korea in the
aftermath of World War II, when the collapse of the Japanese Empire ushered
in an extraordinary moment of promise and possibility that ultimately ended
in tragedy. It has been shortlisted for the 2025 Cundill History Prize,
awarded the Phi Alpha Theta Best Subsequent Book Award, and named one of
The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025.

This event is hosted by the Center for Korean Research at the Weatherhead
East Asian Institute.

*Registration:*

   - To attend this event *in-person*, please register *HERE*
   <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ckr-book-talk-series-a-fractured-liberation-korea-under-us-occupation-tickets-1708740642259?aff=oddtdtcreator>
   *.*
   - To attend this event *online*, please register *HERE*
   <https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N2LyPi38QvuQYYDRUrjOww>
   *.*

*PLEASE NOTE: **For non-Columbia guests, registration is required to access
the Morningside campus **24 hours prior to the event.** After registering
you will receive an email with a QR code that must be presented along with
a government-issued ID (your name must match exactly the name registered
for the event) at either the 116th Street & Broadway or 116th Street &
Amsterdam gates for entry. **Please register using a unique email address
(one email address per registrant) by 12:00 PM on Wednesday, November 5 for
campus access.*

*Names will be submitted for QR codes 1-2 days prior to the event and
subsequently reviewed. Registrants will receive an email from CU Guest
Access with the QR code before or on the day of the event.*

*Contact Information*

Junho Peter Yoon

jy3070 at columbia.edu


Hope to see you there.

Ruth


Ruth Barraclough (she/her/hers)
Korea Foundation Associate Professor of the Social Sciences
Department of History
Columbia University

Director, Center for Korean Research <https://ckr.weai.columbia.edu/>
Weatherhead
East Asian Institute
Faculty Director, MA/MSc in International and World History
<https://worldhistory.columbia.edu>

Office: 913 International Affairs Building * 420 West 118th St * New York
NY 10027
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