Event Category Archives: Featured Korean

2023 Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference

Join us for an annual day of presentations by graduate students from the Department of Asian Studies, featuring special guest presenters unique to each year. Participants in the conference will present their original research, engage in accompanying discussions on their papers or presentations, and enjoy refreshments while meeting and talking with scholars working in a […]

2023 Asian Studies Annual Careers Night

The Department of Asian Studies is delighted to invite you to our annual Careers Night! Navigating life after graduation can be hard, so each year we bring in alumni with diverse experiences – at home and in Asia – to inform and inspire current students. This event will feature a keynote speech and round robin […]

2023 Quiz on Korea is Happening Offline this Year!

Attention to all Hallyu fans in Canada! Hosted by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Vancouver and in partnership with the Department of Asian Studies at UBC, Quiz on Korea is an annual gameshow that quizzes non-Korean adults on their knowledge of Korean culture, social news, history, etc. Countries around the world […]

Colonial Modernization from the Perspective of Quantitative Economic History

Colonial Korea experienced rapid industrialization during the 1930s. Views differ, however, on whether this industrialization was inclusive with the development of local Korean firms. The key question is whether the influx of Japanese capital during Korea’s colonial era suppressed industrialization by Korean-owned firms. In this talk, Dr. Chang-min Lee will discuss whether the advance of […]

Struggles of Life between Cultural Sensitivity and Social Reality in Premodern/Modern Korea

Animism has remained a key feature of Korean culture from premodern times despite a lack of organizational force of its own. Animism has also extensively permeated into institutional religions, whether directly or indirectly, in Korean history. Dr. Oh explores why it has been the case and what impact animism has brought upon Korean culture as […]

The Chosŏn Korean Kingship in the Chosŏn-Ming Relations in the Sixteenth Century

The talk will begin with an introduction to the framework of the Dr. Xiuzhi Huang’s forthcoming book The Anxious Kingship: Chosŏn Korea’s “Small China” Mind and Historical Writing Practice, followed by a discussion of the kingship caught in the “Great Ritual Controversy” between Chosŏn and the Ming Dynasty. The “Great Ritual Controversy” of Emperor Shizong […]

2024 Asian Studies Annual Careers Night

– Registration is now closed – The Department of Asian Studies is delighted to invite you to our annual Careers Night! Navigating life after graduation can be hard, so each year we bring in reputable guests and alumni with diverse experiences – at home and in Asia – to inform and inspire current students. This […]

Tough Compassion: Chŏng Yagyong’s New Vision for Humane Government

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Chŏng Yagyong 丁若鏞 (1762-1836, Tasan 茶山) is generally understood as one of the most prominent Korean Confucian scholars during the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) who tried to radically reform the Korean state, firmly grounded in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, into one that protects the well-being […]