Symposium: Social Minorities in Korea :: CKS

Symposium: Social Minorities in Korea :: CKS

Committee for Korea Studies (CKS) at University of California, Berkeley cordially invitesyou to our annual Project of the Year (PoY) Symposium, “The Human Rights Issuesof Social Minorities in Korea.”

CKS was established in 1986, as an attempt to create a modern Korean history courseat UC Berkeley. Since its inception, CKS has focused on increasing awarenessand knowledge of Korean culture, history, and issues not only at Cal but alsoin the bay area by studying and examining Korean and Korean-American history.CKS has also actively researched various political issues and has engaged inpolitical activities around campus. We choose a theme each year and study itthroughout the year in our weekly general meetings and hold a series of events(PoY) at the end of the year.

Last year’s PoY was on 5.18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising’s 30th anniversary. We had a photo exhibition with a partnership with The May 18 Memorial Foundation, a movie showing (“May 18”) and a symposium with a two UC Berkeleyprofessors, Prof. Ken Wells from History Department and Prof. Jiwon Shin from Department of East Asian Langauges and Cultures, Reverend Hyukin Kwon from Berkeley Korean United Methodist Church and Mr. Sangwon Shim who experienced the incident first-hand as a student at the time.

This year’s PoY is scheduled on April 17th from 2-6PM on the 6thfloor of the Institute of East Asian Studies of UC Berkeley (2223 Fulton Street #2318, Berkeley, CA 94720) with the theme is on “The Human Rights Issues of Social Minorities in Korea.” We have covered the issues of the rights of the disabled, unwed mothers, North Korean refugees in South Korea, non-regular and foreignworkers, foreign brides, and LGBT populations.

We have three guest speakers:

Professor Todd A. Henry, an Assistant Professor in Residence at University of California, San Diego. He is a specialist of modern Korea with a focus on the period of Japanese rule. Dr. Henry works on the comparative and transnational study ofimperialism/colonialism, gender/sexuality, and critical urban studies.

He will be showing two short films, Uncle “Bar” at Barbershop and Auld Lang Syne as part of his talk on “Toward a Queer Past: The Historical Imagination of LGBT Films in Contemporary South Korea.”

Professor Darren Zook teaches in Political Science and International Area Studies Departments at University of California, Berkeley. His areas of interests include international law, human rights, security studies, corruption, comparative Asian politics, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,and the politics of music. His talk will be on "Unsettling Korea: Human Rights, Foreignness, and the Challenges of Globalization."

Mr.Steph Eunha Lee is a delegation member of KEEP-ROK 2010, a political education program designed to learn about the movements of democracy, liberation, andself-determination in the Republic of Korea and a member of HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans), an organization of Koreans in the diaspora concerned with peace and justice on the peninsula and abroad. He will giving apresentation on “Bridging the Gap: Building Solidarity through Marginalized Communities in Korea & the US.”

This is a public event and CKS would love to have you present. Let us know if you have any concerns or questions. You can email us at cks.staff@gmail.com.

Thank you very much.