10th International Conference of NextGen Korean Studies Scholars (NEKST)

2023 NEKST | Program

All times listed below are in the Eastern Time Zone (Ann Arbor, Michigan).

Friday, May 12

9:00 - 9:15 Welcoming Remarks

9:15 - 10:15 Panel 1: Transnational solidarities beyond Korea: On politics and activism

Asian Populism: What is Asian Populism and Why is it Important?
- Yujin Julia Jung (University of Missouri)

“Korea’s past is Hong Kong’s present”?: Democracy, Nationalism and Networked Activism among Young Koreans and Hongkongers in Korea, 2019-2020
-Daeun Lee (National University of Singapore)

Discussant:

Todd Henry (University of California, San Diego)

10:30 - 11:30 Panel 2: Masculinity and Wars in Korean Visual Culture

Contested Masculinity of Film Star Kim Yeom in 1930s Shanghai Film Industry
-Ruowei Wu (Duke University)

Photogenic War: Militarized Aesthetics of Korean War Films and the Transpacific Cold War
-Juwon Kim (University of Toronto)

Discussant:

Hajin Jun (University of Washington)

1:00 - 2:30 Graduate Student Networking

2:30 - 4:00 Professionalization Workshop

4:10 - 5:00 Artist Talk

Artist: Hyeree Ro (Yale University)

Discussant: Caroline Yoo (Carnegie Mellon University)

Saturday, May 13

9:00 - 10:00 Panel 3: The Challenges of Being Young: Politics of Mental Health and Social Provision

Contestation over the Moral Categorization of Money in Social Policy: The Case of Youth Allowance in Post-Developmental South Korea
-Minseo Cho (University of Wisconsin)

Young Women’s Experiences of Mental Distress and the Suicide Prevention Project in South Korea
-Jung Eun Kwon (University of Pittsburgh)

Discussant:

Seungsook Moon (Vassar College)

10:15 - 11:15 Panel 4: Temporal Connections and Contestations Through Korean Narratives

"My Mom's Scent": The Scent, Voices, and Evidence in Narratives of Insam-Haengsang Women
-Hyemin Lee (New York University)

“Life-saving fearsome Toch’aebi”: Life of a Police Chief Moon Hyung-Soon and Conception of Divinity in Jeju Folklore, South Korea
-Daehoon Kang (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences)

Discussant:

John Duncan (University of California, Los Angeles)

11:30 - 12:30 Panel 5: The Representational Politics of Affliction and Alterity in Korean Literature

Between Two Worlds: The Making of Queer Dream-Spatiality in Bae Suah’s Fiction
-Jaewuk Kim (University of Southern California)

Afflicted by Art: Decadent Artists in early 20th century Korean Fiction
-Aliju Kim (University of Toronto)

Discussant:

Youngju Ryu (University of Michigan)

2:00 - 3:00 Chapter Workshops I:

Difficult to Bend: Prewar Mobilization and Violence Against Civilians during Wars [Room 355]

Presenter: Hojung Joo (University of Michigan)

Discussant: Patrick Chung (University of Maryland)

Minjung and the Political Unconscious: Frederic Jameson and Paik Nak-Chung Readings of Third World Literature [Room 455]

Presenter: Min Ji Choi (Harvard University)

Discussant: Kornel Chang (Rutgers University)

3:15 - 4:15 Chapter Workshop II:

Post-developmental Urbanism: The Nexus of Power Relations Underlying Regional Economic Development in Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek [Room 355]

Presenter: Woo-cheol Kim (University of British Columbia)

Discussant: Thomas Ryan (University of Michigan)

Even Class and a Ph.D. Cannot Compensate for Gender: The Case of Elite Korean International Students from the 1920s and the 1980s [Room 455]

Presenter: Hong Jin Jo (University of Chicago)

Discussant: Jaeeun Kim (University of Michigan)

Current graduate students as well as those holding a terminal master’s degree are eligible to apply. We welcome submissions from all disciplines as long as the research topic is related to Korean Studies.

To apply, please submit an abstract (250-word limit) by following the link below. Abstracts should clearly state the research question, main argument, methodology, results, and conclusions. The deadline for submission is February 3, 2023. You should expect to receive the results of your application by March 3, 2023.

Applicants can choose to participate in one of two formats:

1. Panel presentation:
   The panel presentation format is open to all graduate students. Graduate students who are accepted for this format will be arranged into panels to give a presentation based on a manuscript that can range from 2,000 to 10,000 words. (The appropriate length of a paper written for a twelve-minute presentation may vary by discipline). Participants will receive comments about their paper from an assigned faculty discussant. If accepted, completed papers will be due by April 28, 2023.
2. Chapter/Article workshop:
   The chapter/article workshop format is open to PhD students who have achieved candidacy, or the equivalent. Manuscripts submitted for this format should be a dissertation chapter or a polished pre-submission journal article, no more than 10,000 words. Make sure you are submitting an abstract for the chapter (not for the entire dissertation project), but please do include a note that explains how the chapter fits within your dissertation project. Each forty-minute workshop will be dedicated to the discussion of a single manuscript, and each participant will be expected to read other participants’ manuscripts. Manuscripts will be pre-circulated to all faculty and graduate participants of the conference, who will also be invited to provide comments. If accepted, completed manuscripts will be due by April 14, 2023.

For further information, please contact NEKST2023@umich.edu