Ateneo Korean Studies Program hosts 3rd Conference on Maritime Southeast Asia

The Ateneo Korean Studies Program successfully hosted the 3rd Conference on Korean Studies in Maritime Southeast Asia on May 31, 2023, with the theme ‘Locating Korea in Post-COVID Urbanscapes in Southeast Asia: Emerging (Dis)Connections and Cultural Exchanges’.

Following the success of the first two conferences on ‘Emerging Convergences Across the Seas,’ and ‘Korean Studies Research and Pedagogy,’ the third conference brought together studies that re-visit Korea’s presence in the region’s diverse urbanscapes. In particular, it shed light on emerging (dis)connections and new patterns of intercultural exchanges between Korea and Southeast Asia shaped within and by post-COVID cities and localities in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. With the aim of creating research synergy within the region, the conference also included an information session on current Korea-based research on Southeast Asia and an awarding ceremony for the recipients of the Korean Studies Graduate Research and Publication Awards, supported by the Academy of Korean Studies.

The Ateneo Korean Studies Program is at the forefront of expanding Korean Studies in Maritime Southeast Asia – a region with rising economic potential where Korean communities, industries, and investments continue to grow, but whose contribution to the globalization of Korean Studies lacks significant recognition. Through its conferences, it hopes to promote Korean Studies scholarship from diverse Southeast Asian perspectives and encourage critical dialogue on relevant issues important to both Korea and the region.