Karla Cortes, Contributing Photographer

Many students find engaging with their cultural heritage difficult when wrapped up in university life. Yale’s Korean Studies Program aimed to help alleviate this difficulty and encourage Korean members of the Yale community to connect with the country’s culture and history through the first-ever “Korea Week,” held on campus from Nov. 4 to Nov. 14.

The University hosted academic and cultural programming for all members of the Yale community, not just those who identify as Korean, to take part in. Events included lectures, screenings and food tastings. Many of these events were held in connection with Korea University, and lectures were organized by the Yale MacMillan Center’s Council on East Asian Studies.

“It was really meaningful to see Korean culture and language education being institutionalized at Yale,” Yuhan Kim ’24 — an active member of Korean American Students at Yale — told the News.

Korean student groups on campus like Yale Movement, Yale’s first and only K-pop dance group, and Yale Taekwondo, Yale’s first and only team for the sport, also showcased cultural performances during the week.

Heightened interest in the Korean Studies Program and students’ search for Korean-centric events led Yale to organize its first Korea Week. Lectures held in collaboration with Korean Studies scholars at Yale and other universities across the world discussed Korean, American and interrelated topics in literature and culture. 

President of Korea University Dong-One Kim hosted the Nov. 13 lecture, which discussed technology and labor in the context of generative A.I. Kim cited examples of American technological advances and their struggles along with Korea’s rapid labor growth and its challenges.

Lectures heavily involved questions from the audience, who were deeply curious about the differences between the academic, professional and cultural spaces in Korea and the United States. In a talk on Korean entertainment’s effect on a global scale, Ji Hoon Park, a professor at Korea University, included the audience in his lecture by involving them in the questions of how Korean entertainment has evolved within various genres. Audience members were encouraged to learn about the entertainment industry, a topic many were not familiar with but which contributes significantly to how Korea is viewed globally. 

“It’s nice to have events like this for people to get awareness about how various kinds of academic or professional fields of work show what Korea is like in the world,” said doctoral candidate Karis Ryu, who attended the lecture. 

The forum ended with a reception sponsored by Korea University to foster relationships between Yale and visiting Korean faculty. Various traditional Korean items and souvenirs were displayed for attendees to view and appreciate. Toward the end, Korea University visiting faculty were commended and captured in photos to commemorate the event, which they hope will start a long-term relationship between Yale and Korea University.

Various lecturers commented on the relationship they hope to build with Yale and the efforts made to spread Korean culture. 

A number of the students attending were in graduate programs involving Korean culture or academia. Ryu’s specialty is the intersection between American religious history and Asian American studies.

“I think the interest in Korean studies really gave us the opportunity to get us connected to one another,” said Park. “K-pop is not the only topic where we can get connected to one another but this is a really good starting point because people are interested in Korean pop culture these days.”

A highlight of the week for many was Nov. 11’s event, which included the Yale Movement Fall Showcase and a reception featuring food, cultural shows, a film screening and a talk by Joseph Juhn, director of the movie “Chosen,” which follows the story of five Korean Americans as they run for Congress. The Movement group worked to promote K-pop and its urban dance origins through a series of dance performances.

Millie Lao ’27 and Leo Shen ’27, both members of the group, shared that they felt rewarded by the experience of performing for a wide audience of people and spreading appreciation of Korean culture through one of its many branches.

Lao said that it was most of her friends’ first time experiencing a Korean cultural performance, and Shen noted he was glad to celebrate K-pop music with the Yale community.  

“All of us coming together during Korea Week to celebrate this part of Korean culture and just be in community with each other was really fun and exciting,” Lao added. 

The Korean American Students at Yale group was established in 1984.