* No registration fee for this conference.

* Sessions in Track 1 will be live-streamed on YouTube(with some exceptions).

* Simultaneous interpretation (Korean-English) is available on some sessions.

SNU Contemporary Korean Studies will host the “2026 Seoul National University International Conference on Contemporary Korean Studies” for two days, from Friday, August 21, 2026, to Saturday, August 22, 2026, on the second floor of the Asia Center(Building 101).

Now in its third year, the conference explores Korea not simply as an empirical case, but as a methodological and theoretical lens for rethinking wider social, political, economic, cultural, and historical questions. The conference examines how Korean experiences can generate new concepts, comparisons, and critiques for rethinking modernity, democracy, culture, and global knowledge production. It will also provide a platform for domestic and international researchers to build networks of academic exchange and collaboration. We warmly invite all members of the university community to participate.

Date: August 21(Fri)-August 22(Sat), 2026.

Venue: Seoul National University Asia Center (Building 101), 2nd Floor

Contact: snucks2026@gmail.com

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Listen: here

In this episode, we are joined by Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Eliaser Chair of International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading scholar of early Chinese thought. Our conversation draws on his new book, Confucius: A New Tradition (Reaktion Books, 2026), and its striking portrayal of Confucius as a “ritual prodigy.” Through several passages from Book 10 of the Analects, we explore what ritual expertise involves, whether moral and practical wisdom can be innate, and how seemingly minor details of dress and conduct express or instantiate important social and ethical values. We also discuss Confucius’s participation in an exorcism ritual, changing interpretations of ghosts and spirits, and the famous story of Confucius’s reaction to the burning of his horse stables. Along the way, we consider how successive biographies and commentaries have continually reconstructed Confucius to address new philosophical and historical concerns.

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The 7th International Conference on Humanities and Korean Studies is being held at Yonsei University (Seoul) from August 12–15, 2026.

Theme:
전환기의 동아시아 인문한국학: 지식의 혁신과 공공성의 확장
East Asian Humanities and Korean Studies in a Period of Transition: Innovation of Knowledge and the Expansion of Publicness

Most of the program is literature, translation, and language education, but a few papers touch on Korean philosophy, ethics, shamanism/folk religion, and related intellectual history. Here are the ones most relevant to this sub:

Thursday, August 13 (Day 2)

13:00–14:30 | Classical Literature session
Room: IBK기업은행홀 (IBK Enterprise Bank Hall)

• 윤리 형성의 상상과 응용: 조선 시대 벽거리 도상을 중심으로 Imagination and Application of Ethical Formation: Focusing on Joseon-era Byeokgeori Iconography (Dongguk University)
• 한국 내재화에 구현된 관료제 고찰: 제주도 시사부가 (차사본풀이)와 (사만본풀이)를 중심으로 An Examination of Bureaucracy as Embodied in Korean Internalization: Focusing on Jeju’s Sisabu (Chasa Bonpuri and Saman Bonpuri) (Yonsei University) → Direct engagement with Jeju shamanic mythology (bonpuri).

Friday, August 14 (Day 3)

10:40–12:30 | Modern Literature 2 session
Room: IBK기업은행홀 (IBK Enterprise Bank Hall)

• 신여성과 아나키 페미니즘: 네세시티와 김일엽을 중심으로 New Women and Anarchist Feminism: Focusing on “Necessity” and Kim Il-yeop (Peking University) → Kim Il-yeop (김일엽) is of clear interest here given her later life as a Buddhist nun and her engagement with Buddhist thought.
• 근대 조선의 전통과 민주에의 의학 지식의 유동과 재생산: 페스토 숙수 및 매계를 중심으로 The Circulation and Reproduction of Medical Knowledge between Tradition and Democracy in Modern Joseon: Focusing on Pesto Suksu and Maegye (Sungkyunkwan University) → Touches on the philosophical underpinnings of traditional Korean medicine in the modern period.

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■ 일시 : 2026년 8월 12일(수) ~ 15일(토)

■ 장소 : 연세대학교 백양관 220호, 백양누리 라제건홀, 곽정환챌린지홀, IBK기업은행홀

■ 주최 : 연세대학교 국어국문과 BK21 FOUR 연구단, 연세대학교 비교사회문화연구소, 연세대학교 미래캠퍼스 국어국문학전공 BK21+ 교육연구팀

Sungkyunkwan University's Department of Confucian & Oriental Asian/Korean Philosophy (Stage 4 BK21 program), the Institute of Confucian Philosophy and Culture, and the Center for Critical Confucianism and Contemporary Confucian Classics Studies are jointly hosting the 13th University Consortium Forum for Emerging Philosophy Scholars.

Theme: At the Boundary of Metaphysics, examining whether East Asian philosophy can still raise meaningful questions about metaphysics amid the reassessment of metaphysics' relevance in an age of modern scientific advancement, with particular attention to how East Asian ethics and self-cultivation theory (수양론) have historically developed on metaphysical foundations.

When: Friday, July 31, 2026, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Where: Sungkyunkwan University, Humanities & Social Sciences Campus, International Hall, Room 9B217

Program:

Part 1 — Keynote Lecture & Q&A (10:15–11:30)

• Speaker: Prof. Lee Jang-hee (Gyeongin National University of Education)

Part 2 — Panel Presentations (13:00–16:05)

• Session 1 (Metaphysics — Humanity & Self-Cultivation): Zhu Xi's theories of self-cultivation, views on desire, and the practice of "watchfulness over oneself when alone" (愼獨/신독)
• Session B (Metaphysics — Substance & World): Seongho's (성호) theory of the Four-Seven Debate (사단칠정론), Dasan's (다산) views on ritual and music, and discussions of substance/principle and language

Speakers/discussants center on major East Asian thinkers including Zhu Xi, Seongho (Yi Ik), and Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong). Full presenter/commentator details are in the attached poster (not included in the text you shared, so you may want to add that separately when you post, or link the original announcement).

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Abstract

I would like to invite Wang to join me to think together about an interesting question: how Confucian is the Zhuangzi? My hunch is that Wang’s answer is “very much!”. This can be seen from his discussion of the phrase “forgetting benevolence and rightness” (wang ren yi 忘仁義) in the passage on “sitting and forgetting” (zuowang 坐忘) in 6.2 of his book. Although Wang situates his discussion in the contemporary debate between moral generalism and moral particularism, claiming that the Zhuangzi takes a via media, he comes to the conclusion that “the Zhuangzian attitude does not exclude the role of received Confucian ethical paradigms in routine practice” (Wang, 2025: 99); and that the Zhuangzian cultivated person reaches a stage that “is analogous to Confucius’ final stage of virtuous development, which is attaining harmony between external moral requirements and the internal desire of the individual hear/mind” (101). While Wang is not alone in holding this view, in this paper, I shall argue that he is wrong, and the Zhuangzi is hardly a Confucian.

Login via your institution to read the full article: here

The 33^(rd) biennial Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE) Conference will be held at the University of Bucharest, Romania, between June 24 and June 27, 2027. 

The year 2027 marks the 50^(th) anniversary since AKSE was founded in 1977. 

To this day, AKSE remains the main scholarly society for Korean Studies in Europe. Its objectives are to stimulate and coordinate academic Korean Studies in all countries of Europe, and to contribute to the spread of knowledge of Korea among a wider public. 

The biennial AKSE conferences provide an opportunity for European scholars of Korean Studies to gather and exchange research ideas. They also host the AKSE membership meeting, the association’s central event. At the same time, they serve as a forum for dialogue between European Korean Studies and the wider academic community. In this spirit, we warmly welcome non-members and scholars from outside Europe.

Please see below for details on individual paper and panel proposal submissions. For more information about the conference, and to register to submit an abstract, please also see the conference website available from July 1^(st): https://coms.app/akse2027/welcome.html

Key dates 

1 July 2026 – 15 September 2026: Submission of abstracts 

1 January 2027: Notification of acceptance

1 January 2027 – 1 April 2027: Registration 

1 January 2027 – 30 May 2027: Online paper submission 

Submission guidelines 

General information 

• Abstract submission will entail preliminary registration (not binding). Formal registration for all participants and attendees will be open January-April 2027. 
• Subjects in all areas of Korean Studies are welcome. During the abstract submission, submitters will have to choose a field for their presentation. 
• All abstracts should be written in English, but the official languages of the conference are: English, French, German and Korean. You must specify the presentation language if it is different from English. 
• Both individual abstracts and panel proposals can be submitted, although panel proposals will be treated preferentially. 
• We strongly encourage panel diversity (institutional, national, disciplinary, gender, and career-stage), and this will be an important criterion in the final selection process. 
• Each session will last for 100 minutes and typically consist of four paper presentations. To allow plenty of time for discussion, presenters should not exceed 15 minutes (60 minutes for presentations, 40 minutes for discussion).

 

Instructions for panel proposals 

• Panel proposals should include: a concise title (e.g. “Korean Diaspora in US”); up to three keywords; details of up to five panelists (up to four presenters and an optional non-presenting chair); and a panel abstract of up to 300 words. 
• Additionally, each presenter should prepare an abstract of up to 300 words 
• Normally panels do not include discussants. The panel chair may act as discussant if invited to do so.

 

Instructions for individual papers 

• Individual presenters should submit an abstract of up to 300 words, as well as a paper title and up to three keywords.

 

Additional information on the website 

Further information about the conference —including information about registration fees and graduate student travel subsidies — will be available on the conference website: https://coms.app/akse2027/welcome.html

Contact: 

Diana Yuksel and the Korean Studies Team at the University of Bucharest: akse2027@lls.unibuc.ro  

Access the articles: here

Beyond Coexistence: Importation, Reinterpretation, and Retransmission in South Korea’s Religious Landscape Hyojin L. FROMELL

Seokjeon in Transition: Continuities, Transformations, and Institutional Influences on the Confucian Memorial Rite in Post-Liberation Korea Hyojin L. FROMELL

What Makes Cheontae Cheontae? A New Buddhist Movement and the Reinterpretation of the Cheontae Tradition in Contemporary Korea Yohong ROH

Between Hwadu and Mindfulness: Seon Meditation in Korean Templestay Programs for International Audiences Andrea Maria NENCINI

Individualism and Divination in Korea: From the Jeomchal Ceremony for Nullified Negative Karma to FutureTelling Esoteric Tools Althea VOLPE

Reconstructing Health: The WHO/UNKRA Mission and Postwar Medical Development in South Korea Dongkue LEE

Power Ownership Matters, Not Political Orientation: Sources and Responsibility Attributions of Fake News in Media Articles around Two Presidential Elections in Korea Gunho LEE & Jihee YOON

Translation and Recognition of Han Kang in China Yaoyu HU & Hui XIONG

[Review Essay] The Korean War’s Three Afterlives: Hypothetical Post-Liberation History, Korean Cold War Refugees, and an Excavation of Hidden Voices in Korean-American Literature Kyu-hyun JO

[Book Review] “Life is but a Weaving”: Writing as a Quest for the Gold Thread Keum-youn HAN

[Book Review] Mapping the Epistemic Landscape of Late Joseon Min Jung YOU

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Listen: here

In this episode, we take up one of the most puzzling and fascinating passages in the Zhuangzi: the “happy fish debate” between Zhuangzi and Huizi. Can Zhuangzi really know that the fish are happy if he is not a fish? Along the way, we explore skepticism, language, animal minds, and the ordinary but surprisingly sophisticated ways we recognize joy in other living things.

Key passage

The “happy fish debate” (also known as the “debate on the Hao [river] bridge”)

>

(Zhuangzi, chapter 17, “Autumn Floods” [Qiushui 秋水], Paul Kjellberg’s translation with some modifications)

Not related to Korean philosophy but I thought it might help some of you.

According to an announcement from the APA:

The APA Job-Market Mentoring Program, run by the APA Committee on Academic Career Opportunities and Placement, pairs philosophers going on the academic job market with mentors who have recent experience of the market themselves. Its purpose is to make good job-market mentoring more equally available across the discipline. The program is formative: mentors help candidates present themselves well and navigate the process. Mentors and mentees will meet (over phone, Zoom, or email) several times throughout the market cycle to discuss the mentee’s plans and dossier, for a practice interview, and as otherwise needed.

Alongside the announcement, the APA released a mentoring program guidance document about the expectations mentees and mentors should have about the program. Among other things, it says:

Our mentors are experienced guides who help candidates present themselves well and make sense of the job market. The role is meant to be a bounded commitment: a few hours spread across the year, with a couple of more concentrated moments around document review and a mock interview. Mentors are not expected to be on call, to solve every problem, or to keep going indefinitely. It is better to do a bounded job thoroughly than to over-promise and disengage.

In an email, the chair of the Committee on Academic Career Opportunities and Placement, Amy Berg (Rice University), said, “we’re anticipating that demand will outstrip supply, but we’re hoping to get as many mentors as we possibly can, particularly mentors who have recently been on the job market themselves and/or who work at teaching-focused institutions and two-year colleges.”

The announcement included links to the mentee application form and the mentor application form. Applications are due August 1st.

You can learn more about the mentoring program here.

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Post from Warp, Weft, and Way: here

"I’m delighted to announce the publication of the English translation of C. C. Tsai’s graphic version of the Yi Jing 易經!  In this volume, we depart slightly from previous books in the series—this edition features full-color illustrations and places the original Classical Chinese at the bottom margin rather than the side. 

If you use any of the books in this series in the classroom, exam and desk copies are available, including a digital version.  

Each book in the series has a concise introduction that summarizes the key philosophical ideas for novices, as well as a pronunciation index in the back.  

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the series.

A sample of the Illustrated Yi Jing can be found here.

The entire series (so far) can be seen here."

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Excerpt from the introduction:

In contemporary Korea, the term “esotericism” is not commonly used by the general public, and even among scholars specializing in religious studies, few pay much attention to this concept. In Japan and China, the term “esotericism” is often translated as hikyō 秘教 (Ch. mijiao), but in Korea, this term is rarely used. However, this is not to say that there has been nothing comparable to esotericism in Korean history. In Korea, there are religious traditions comparable to what is called esotericism in the West. One representative example is tanhak (단학 [丹學]), a form of Chinese Daoist alchemy. Alchemy is an important part of Western esotericism (Hanegraaff 2013: 24), but it also developed in China as a technique for producing the elixir of immortality.

Chinese alchemy is classified into waidan 外丹 (external alchemy, which produces the elixir of immortality through chemical techniques) and neidan 內丹 (internal alchemy, which aims to achieve an immortal body through the cultivation of one’s own spiritual power). Of these, the practice of neidan was transmitted to Korea (Murakami [1983] 1993: 297). The exact time when Chinese neidan was introduced to Korea is not known. Historical documents indicate that at least by the middle of the Chosŏn period (1392–1910), the neidan training method was secretly transmitted through personal relationships between masters and disciples (Ch'a 1990: 60–2). Neidan was closely related to the practices of yangsheng 養生 (health preservation) and was also known as xiandao 仙道 (Kr. Esotericism in East Asia sŏndo [선도]), the Way of Immortal) within Chinese Daoism, but in Korea it was known as tanhak, the study of making the elixir tan (단[丹]).

Link to full book/chapter: here

Abstract: South Korean exorcism cinema, as a cultural symptom of social transformation, profoundly reflects the collective trauma and crisis of faith among its people within the context of compressed modernity. Employing Ulrich Beck's risk society theory as a framework, combined with symptomatic reading, this paper analyzes how exorcism films translate demonic symbols to encode the trauma of colonial history and the crises of modernity into supernatural narratives. Using the binary structure of "possession-exorcism," these films, on the one hand, expose the lingering cultural psychology of colonial violence and the collapse of trust exacerbated by class polarization. On the other hand, through the symbolic performance of exorcism rituals, they imaginatively resolve social contradictions and reconstruct provisional communities centered around Christianity. This cultural healing mechanism not only reveals the schism within Korean society, caught between the fading of traditional ethics and the alienation wrought by capital, but also furnishes fresh angles for researching the spiritual crises of post-colonial societies in East Asia.

Link to article PDF: here