Aloha. Welcome to the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the oldest and largest Korean studies institution outside Korea. Established in 1972, the Center has for more than four decades pursued its founding vision of developing and promoting Korean studies internationally. With more than forty faculty members offering courses 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 the cultural horizon for students, faculty, and the Hawai'i community. Geographically situated at a strategic point, the Center also has played a key role in bringing together scholars and intellectual leaders. The Center regularly refines its programs and activities to keep abreast of developments in the rapidly changing global context of the twenty-first century—all with the goal of ensuring that the Center and the field of Korean studies continue to grow.
On behalf of the Center, I invite you to be part of our community. Our legacy builds on our rich past, but it will also be part of the evolving present and future.
Tae-Ung Baik
Director & Professor of Law
Events in Spring 2024
- January 27, 2024 at 7:30pm 'On Wings of Song' Concert at the Department of Music, Mae Zenke Orvis Auditorium
- February 8-9, 2024 at 3:30pm &10:30am, The 14th Critical Issues Forum - Transmedia Ecologies of Korean "New Retro" by Dr. Michelle Cho (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto).
- February 28, 2024 at 12:00pm - 1:00pm, "Making over 'The Big Reveal': Medical Tourism YouTube Vlogs and the Globalizing of the South Korean 'Look' by Dr. S. Heijin Lee (Assistant Professor of Wemen, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Hawai'i Mānoa).
- April 11, 2024 at 3:00pm Book Talk- "Modern Korean Travelogues about Hawaii" by Dr. Yelee An (Associate Professor, Academy of Korean Studies).
- April 18, 2024 at 3:00pm Book Talk- "Togani (도가니)" by Author Gong Jiyoung, Translators Bruce Fulton (Professor, UBC) & Ju-Chan Fulton.
- May 9-10, 2024 The 17th Worldwide Consortium of Korean Studies Centers Conference and Directors Meeting.
