London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Summer 2011 Korean studies seminars at SOAS

Two Friday evening seminars have been announced so far – see below.

I’ve posted a brief review of Chris Springer’s book here.

Date: Friday, 6 May 2011
Time: 17.00-19.00

Title: Representations of colonial Korea in print and in visual imagery
Speaker: Dr Susan House Wade (University of Brighton)

Venue: Room G50, Ground Floor, Main Building Russell Square, SOAS

Abstract
Diplomats, military personnel, missionaries, writers and others who journeyed to Korea and Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries significantly impacted the entries which were included in subsequent reference works produced for the British market. This examination will primarily assess the accounts of colonial Korea, and the authors of such entries, which reached the users of encyclopaedias and other popular reference sources in Britain.

Biography
Dr Susan House Wade developed an interest in East Asia as a child growing up in California, where her family instilled in her an active curiosity in the arts and cultures of China, Korea and Japan. Susan furthered that interest when she went to Japan and Korea in the early 1990s in order to take up a job opportunity and observe the art and architecture of the two countries first hand. She subsequently completed an MA at SOAS, followed by a PhD at the University of Brighton. Susan continues to write and lecture on topics primarily associated with 19th and 20th century encounters between East Asian’s and European’s.

Date: Friday, 13 May 2011
Time: 17.00-19.00

Title: War and its Aftermath in North Korea: Images from the 1950s
Speaker: Chris Springer (Author of North Korea Caught in Time: Images of War and Reconstruction)

Venue: Room 116, First Floor (or the 2nd floor if you’re American), Main Building Russell Square, SOAS

Abstract
In the 1950s the North Korean people lived through the cataclysm of the Korean War and the ferment of postwar reconstruction. Rare photographs have now emerged that help shed light on this turbulent era. In an audiovisual presentation, Chris Springer shares some of these photos from his new book North Korea Caught in Time: Images of War and Reconstruction.

The images depict the devastation wreaked by U.S. bombing, the destitution faced by civilians, the operations of the North Korean army, and the reconstruction of shattered cities. Also shown are senior politicians whom the regime later purged and erased from the official record. Chris Springer will explain the photos’ varied origins (from both official and amateur photographers) and discuss what the images reveal about North Korean history.

Biography
California-born Chris Springer is the author of North Korea Caught in Time (2010) and Pyongyang: The Hidden History of the North Korean Capital (2003). He also curated the 2002 exhibition Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Budapest, Hungary. His research focuses on North Korean domestic history. He has visited North Korea three times.

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