Talks

From the Edge: Contemporary Korean Culture

Dr. Jooyeon Rhee is Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature and Director of Penn State Institute for Korean Studies who specializes in modern Korean literature and culture. Her main research deals with Korean popular literature with particular emphasis on transnational literary exchanges and interactions. She published a monograph The Novel in Transition: Gender and Literature in Early Colonial Korea (Cornell, 2019), co-edited Gender and Food in Transnational East Asias (Lexington 2021), and many peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and translations. Currently, she is writing her second book on crime fiction of Korea; and editing a special issue, “Culinary Culture on the Move,” for Verge: Studies in Global Asias. Her other research interests include diasporic art and literature and food studies.

Daekwon Park is an Associate Professor at Syracuse School of Architecture, where he also serves as Undergraduate Program Chair. His research and pedagogy center on the explorations conducted at the Material Archi-Tectonic Research (MATR) lab, an interdisciplinary laboratory that focuses on the design, fabrication, and augmentation of materials for the built environment. Park established the lab in partnership with the Syracuse CoE and the Syracuse SoA. The projects at MATR range from developing new materials and building components to designing furniture, buildings, and cities. MATR actively engages in academic and industry collaborations from material science, environmental engineering, civil engineering, biology, and combustion & energy science. Dr. Park received his Doctor of Design degree from Harvard University, with a focus on computational design and hybrid materials. He is also a licensed architect and LEED-accredited professional with project experience in the United States, Australia, China, and South Korea.

Dr. Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon is an art historian and curator specializing in Korean art and visual culture. As the inaugural Associate Curator of Korean Art and Culture at ROM, she oversees Canada’s largest collection of Korean cultural heritage. Her PhD dissertation at the University of Alberta examined socially engaged art by Korean and Japanese artists, supported by a SSHRC doctoral fellowship. As a fellow at Seoul National University’s Kyujanggak Institute, she advanced research for a monograph on feminist art activism in Korea. An award-winning educator, she has taught Korean and East Asian art history as well as Art as Social Practice at the University of Alberta and currently teaches at the University of Toronto. Her curated exhibitions and past publications explored the cultural exchange between North Korea and Guyana, artist practice addressing wartime sexual violence during the Asia-Pacific War and the Vietnam War, and Korean Canadian diasporic art. 

Hong Kal is Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Art and Art History at York University. She has written about colonial expositions, museums, memorials and urban built environments in relation to the construction of Korean nationalism. In her book Aesthetic Constructions of Korean Nationalism: Spectacle, Politics and History (Routledge 2011), she examines exhibition culture by linking concepts of visual spectacle, urban space and cultural politics. Her recent research explores visual representations of historical and social injustices with attention to the transformative potentials of images. It investigates the critical role of artists and the affective modes of visual images coping with past and present wrongdoings in South Korea. Her research is published in articles in journals, including Asian Studies Review, The Asia Pacific Journal, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Inter Asia Cultural Studies, and Korean Studies, and in chapters in edited books, including Space, Place, and Community: Public Art in East Asia, edited by Meiqin Wang (Vernon Press 2022). 

Thomas R. Klassen is a professor at York University in Toronto. Each year he teaches a summer study abroad course for which he takes groups of undergraduate students to South Korea for three weeks of field study. Professor Klassen has written widely topics related to Korea ranging from politics to culture and is a frequent commentator regarding events on the Korean peninsula. He spent several years living in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, where he taught at Yonsei University. As part of his travels to East, he has also been to North Korea. He has visited the DMZ (the border between North and South Korea) on numerous occasions.

Jihyun Back is a professional Korean traditional dancer who began her career in 2002 with the renowned Little Angels Children's Art Troupe. She received extensive training at Korea’s leading arts schools and performed as a member of the prestigious Uijeongbu Municipal Dance Company. Since moving to Toronto in 2020, Jihyun has dedicated herself to promoting Korean culture through performances and teaching. As an artist, she actively collaborates with diverse artists and institutions to foster cultural exchange and elevate the global presence of Korean traditional arts. She is currently also working as an Artist in Residence with the Raw, women’s Asian drum team.