Aloha. Welcome to the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the oldest and largest Korean studies institute of its kind outside of Korea. Established in 1972, the Center has, for more than five decades, pursued its founding vision of developing and promoting Korean studies internationally. With more than forty faculty members offering courses and/or conducting research related to Korea, the Center has by far the largest number of Korean studies scholars in any educational institution outside Korea.

As an educational, research, and informational hub for Korean studies in the United States, the Center has broadened scholarship and cultural horizons for students, faculty, and the Hawai’i community. Geographically situated at a strategic point, the Center has also played a key role in bringing together scholars and intellectual leaders to further build Korean studies internationally. The Center regularly offers programs and activities that keep abreast of developments in the rapidly changing global context of the twenty-first century—all with the goal of ensuring that our Center and the field of Korean studies more generally continue to grow.

On behalf of the Center, I invite you to be a part of our community. Our legacy builds on our rich past, but also the evolving present and future as well.

Christopher J. Bae
Director & Professor of Anthropology