Director Pastreich will present a talk at the international conference “Cooperation and Challenge in East Asia” (东亚时代的合作与挑战) organized by the Korea-China Association of Social Science Studies to be held in Hangzhou at Zhejiang University. Pastreich will talk at 10 AM on Saturday, December 14th. His talk to be delivered in Chinese, is entitled “Reconsidering Security in Northeast Asia: Putting the Environment at the Center” (“新时代东北亚的安保再考虑：把环境当为优先”). See link for further details. This talk is part of the larger effort at Asia Institute to shift the entire security dialog in Asia to the environment.
September, 2013
The Asia Institute Representative visits Institute for Advanced Study
The Asia Institute’s communications director Arthur E. Michalak spent two afternoons at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey discussing similarities in the two institutions’ mission statements to establish a relationship. Topics of common interest identified included the public debate about technology, society, and the environment. The Asia Institute plans a follow up visit to Institute for Advanced Study for spring of 2014.
The Institute for Advanced Study is a private academic institution dedicated to theoretical research in the sciences and humanities. Founded in 1930 to encourage innovative scholarly work unfettered by teaching or graduate advising duties, it attracts some of the world’s top thinkers who devote their time here to innovative research in nascent areas of human curiosity that bear promise of significant breakthroughs. Thirty-three Nobel laureates and more than 70 percent of all Fields Medal recipients have been associated with IAS. Former intellectual luminaries include Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the atomic bomb project during the Second World War.
Arthur Michalak met with Professor Nicola di Cosmo and Michael Gehret in the first week of September to discuss overlapping imperatives in the research agendas of the two institutions with the aim of establishing a relationship.
Professor Nicola di Cosmo is the Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies whose principal area of interest is the history of relations between China and Inner Asia from prehistory to the modern period. Professor di kristen stewart pokies Cosmo has published on the early history of China’s relations with steppe wanderers. Both di Cosmo and The Asia Institute director Emanuel Pastreich, who had been at Harvard together previously, were drawn together by a common interest in pre-modern Asia. Professor di Cosmo expressed interest in visiting Korea to present his research at conferences and to glean fruitful ideas from fellow researchers also interested in connecting strands of work.
The conversation next focused on ways to encourage more Korean researchers to consider appointments at IAS, fund raising, and awareness about research IAS activities in Korea. Another meeting was arranged with Michael Gehret, associate director for development and public affairs. Mr. Gehret is an established development professional with extensive not-for-profit experience. Mr. Gehret’s main concern was about fund raising to host Korean researchers.
The importance of the two meetings lies in the nature of the two institutions. The Institute for Advanced Study engages in human curiosity that has wide reaching impact on the field of global development. The Asia Institute is an emerging public policy think tank whose unique approach to addressing critical issues in technology, society, and environment in East Asia. IAS would like to connect with more Korean researchers in sciences and humanities; The Asia Institute is pursuing relationships with researchers in Korea and beyond who are inspired by developments that not only address scientific issues, but also uncover social issues that must be addressed, in part by national and international policies, and in part by individual decisions.
Date: November 22, 2013
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Kyung Hee University
John FefferCo-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus
Author “North Korea/South Korea”
Kwon Byong-HyonChairman, Future Forest (NGO)
Former Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China
Emanuel PastreichProfessor Kyung Hee University College of International Studies
Director, The Asia Institute
This panel brings together three intellectuals deeply involved in the future of East Asia who approach Korea and its relations with China, Japan and the United States from the perspectives of academics, media and government. The three will discuss the true nature of Korea’s potential to play a critical role in global affairs in our age. What exactly is the Korean Wave and what greater impact can Korea have in the region and the world going forward? Please join us for a remarkable discussion.
Date: November 22, 2013
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Kyung Hee University
Room B-105 of College of Human Ecology (Hoegi Campus)
(Building #21 on the map 생활과학대학)
Emanuel Pastreich (director), Layne Hartsell (researcher) and Josh Lee (chairman) of the Asia Institute joined the Big Tent discussion held by Google Korea on October 30 (2013) in Gangnam, Seoul. Emanuel and Layne first gave Chairman Eric Schmidt of Google a personal tour of the National Museum of Korea in the morning which included a lively discussion about Korea’s history and culture and its implications for the future. They also took time off for a three way discussion of the implications of technology and globalization for human civilization.
Emanuel Pastreich answers questions about his book “Another Republic of Korea” from KBS anchor Yang Yeongeun at the Google Big Tent in Gangnam (October 30, 2013)
In the afternoon, Emanuel was part of a panel featuring Cho Wonkyu, CEO for research at Google Korea, Won Yongki, Director at the Ministry of Culture, Cheong Taesong, Film Director at CJ Entertainment, and Kim Hyeongjun, producer at KBS. Emanuel argued the Korea needed to create global shared values that could become part of universal culture as part of the next stage of the Korean Wave. Business Korea described his talk in the following manner:
Dr. Pastreich was asked by Ms. Yang about his perspective as a non-Korean who has studied Korean culture. He emphasized that Korea finds itself today in a unique position as a non-imperial power with global reach, and that it should use that opportunity to its advantage on the global stage. He noted that many people around the world are paying attention to Korea’s culture and values. “Many countries have very high expectations for Korea,” he emphasized. “Many people think that the future of the world will come from Asia. And Korea is the most advanced but also the most human of the major powers.”
But Pastreich also suggested Korea has a long way to go. “People know Samsung and LG, but the history of Korea is largely unknown,” he explained. “You have people in South America saying, ‘I want to be the next Gandhi.’ But you do not have anyone outside of Korea saying, ‘I want to be King Sejong.’ The reason is simple: Koreans have not made Korean culture a part of global culture.”
In
“Korean Culture becoming Part of Mobile Generation’s Universal Human Culture”