[KS] Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2026

[Sandy Nguyen]

Dear KS list members, I hope you are well.
Please note the following virtual seminars organised by Monash
University Korean Studies Research Hub. Registration details are also
included below. Hope to see you there.

Many thanks,
Sandy.

_____________

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




*Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2026*


*''What Can Artificial Intelligence Tell Us About Korean Language and
Culture?*


Dr Benoit Berthelier (University of Sydney)



via ZOOM

Thursday 13th August 2026, 3-4pm (Melbourne time)


Bio:
Dr Benoit Berthelier is Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University
of Sydney. His research focuses on North Korea, digital methods and the
interaction between science, technology and politics.

Abstract:
Artificial intelligence, and large language models in particular, are
increasingly used as question answering tools, raising concerns about the
reliability of their outputs. Rather than take them as authoritative or try
to discern their level of truth, this talk considers what these answers -
either right or wrong - can reveal about a society and its culture. Because
language models are probabilistic systems trained to identify and reproduce
patterns in language, they are useful artefacts to study in order to trace
changes in representation, language, and stereotypes across time and across
different social and linguistic contexts.

Drawing on research on North and South Korea, the talk shows how
computational methods can reveal patterns that are difficult to identify or
substantiate through qualitative analysis alone. It argues that AI is most
useful not as an oracle, but as an analytical instrument, one whose errors
and biases can themselves tell us something about Korean language and
culture. The talk shows how AI can help us understand the different
conceptions of art between North and South Korea, the different ways in
which readers from North and South might read the same text, and the finer
semantic differences between North and South Korean languages.

Register here <https://forms.gle/BwwF5E2n6FWKJHsJ9>.

__________________




*Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2026Seminar*


*'Feeding the People: Socialist Dining, Technoscience, and Gendered Labor
in Postwar North Korea'*


Dr Sunho Ko (Penn State University)

  via ZOOM

Thursday, 17 September 2026, 10:00 AM AEST (Melbourne) / Wednesday, 16
September 2026, 8:00 PM EDT (Pennsylvania)


Bio:
Sunho Ko is a cultural historian of modern Korean history with expertise in
food and agriculture. He received a PhD degree from the University of
Toronto with a dissertation on the history of food in wartime colonial
Korea. He is currently expanding his research period from colonial Korea
into North Korea to explore new topics of socialism, the Cold War, animal
studies and environmental history.

Abstract:
In the aftermath of the Korean War, North Korea embraced the slogan, “Let’s
turn our restaurants into collective kitchens of the people (inmin ŭi
kongdong chubang)!” to address the challenges of feeding a war-torn
population. This initiative expanded state-owned and cooperative
dining facilities with its emphasis on the scientific management of the
facilities to provide nutritious, affordable, and appealing meals. This
presentation examines these facilities as sites where scientific visions
for food management were materially enacted, with revealing
tensions, negotiations, and conflicts that reflected broader political
dynamics. Special attention is given to women, who played a central role in
realizing these scientific ideals through labor constrained by limited
resources and conservative gender expectations. How did women workers
navigate these intersecting worlds of gender, scientific discourse, and
local realities? By tracing themes of socialist dining, scientific
management, and women’s labor, the presentation highlights how North Korean
socialism was both enacted and contested in everyday experiences.

Register here <https://forms.gle/9cdeGfZcnwjjojfQ8>.


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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