James Joo-Jin Kim Program 1st Annual Conference - Korea with Empire: "Resisting, Contesting, and Appropriating Transnational Universals"

Organized by Sixiang Wang, Moon Family Postdoctoral Fellow

This conference hopes to investigate the various ways Korean polities and Korean actors engaged with “empire,” broadly conceived as conceptual, institutional, and social structures justified by claims to universal normativity: whether they be represented by Confucian dynasties and international organizations, or enforced through Cold War orthodoxies. We are interested less in how “empire” has been imposed by outside powers, than how Korean actors resisted, contested, but especially, appropriated “empire” for their own ends. The aim of the conference is to promote comparative and cross-period discussion across disciplines. For instance, do Koryo or Choson period experiences with “empire” have lasting impacts on later interactions? How does modern and contemporary Korean international engagement inform understandings of Korea’s past?

For more information visit: http://web.sas.upenn.edu/korea-empire2016/