Volume 2, No. 1 May 2011 East Rock Institute ERI NE WS President’s Report: s we complete this you to reserve your second installment of ticket as early as pos- our newly formatted sible. Please contact newsletter, the East ERI for more infor- Rock Institute staff mation. We are in- Aand volunteers are hard at work debted to the Korean organizing several large events. Cultural Service for Through the cooperative efforts of their support in or- our numerous collaborators, we are ganizing this event. working to increase ERI's visibility E R I ' s and to continue introducing novel approaches to exploring Ko- Young Professional rean, Korean American, and Diasporic cultures. Group is organiz- President’s Report 1 We are placing the final touches on our 7th annual ing its first activity Teach Korea Teachers Conference, "Beyond Words: Korean on the West Coast Culture Through Literature, Film, and Oral History,” which in the form of an Current Projects 3 will be held in New Haven on June 28-30. Co-Directed by Board Executive Lead- Member Ross King and myself, and founded by Dr. Hesung Koh, ership Training ERI and Korean Studies 4 this year's conference will include faculty from the University of Workshop, which British Columbia, Columbia University, Yale University, and ERI. will take place in ERI in the Community 7 In addition, we are pleased to have Ms. Hae Kyoung Lee and Dr. Silicon Valley, CA, Myung K. Park join us this year to share their personal histories in early-mid Sep- as examples of the trials and tribulations that Koreans and Korean tember. Organized News from ERI Family 9 Americans experienced during the 20th century. We have also by ERI Board Mem- been fortunate to work with Mr. Kaysong Lee and Michelle Han, bers Drs. Mu Young Grants, Contracts, & 12 Esq., of the Korean Ethical Forum, a Korea American business Lee and Douglas Donations leadership group, to recruit teachers from high schools in which Park, this workshop their businesses operate. As always, we are grateful to the Korea will continue ERI's Foundation for their continued support of this endeavor. There is past explorations of the intersection between Korean/Asian Amer- still space available, so we urge all educators to join us! ican culture and our personal and professional lives. Everyone is The 3rd International CultureWear/Diaspora Mu- welcome, and so please save the date. We will forward you more seum Conference entitled "Design, Diaspora, Diversity" will details in the coming weeks. take place in NYC at Parsons New School For Design on No- In addition to these upcoming activities, ERI continues vember 11-12. Representing the last of three conferences, this to maintain its connections to our communities. Dr. Hesung Koh year's Conference will be co-organized by Parsons and co-spon- and I both participated as invited speakers at the 25th annual Ko- sored by the Smithsonian, Japanese National Museum of Ethnol- rean American Students Conference (KASCON), held at Yale on ogy, and Sungshin Women's University. For more information, we March 18-20. Dr. Koh hosted several meetings with Meaningful encourage you to read more about this event below. Aging Project participants at the Whitney Center, and I spoke on We are also organizing a new ERI tradition - our first "Stem Cells in Disease and Health" at the Whitney Center as part annual gala fundraising event - which will take place at the of their invited lecture series. Yale Club of New York City, 50 Vanderbilt Ave, Manhattan, So, ERI is busier than ever connecting with new commu- on the evening of Friday, November 11. The event will be held nities and increasing cultural understanding. All of these activities in conjunction with the CultureWear/Diaspora Museum Confer- make for a truly remarkable year at ERI, and we know that none of ence and will include a fashion show that features pieces from this would be possible without those of you who support us with the Sungshin Women's University traditional Korean collection your emotional, intellectual, and financial support. as well as pieces from other local NYC cultural groups. Because I urge you to continue to read to learn more about our limited numbers of tickets will be available for this event, we urge wonderful recent and upcoming events! 2 ERI NE WS - MAY 2011 ERI NE WS - MAY 2011 3 3rd International Korean American Seniors Meeting: CultureWear/Diaspora Museum Conference Meaningful Aging We are pleased to announce the upcoming 3rd International Cul- tureWear/Diaspora Museum Conference, which will be co-organized by Parsons New School for Design and co-sponsored by the Smith- sonian, the Japanese National Museum of Ethnology, and Sungshin Save the Date! Women's University. This last of three Conferences will be held No- vember 11-12 at Parsons New School for Design, which is located Please join East Rock Institute on the evening of No- near the New York City fashion district. Entitled "Design, Diaspora, vember 11, 2011 for its CultureWear Fashion Show Diversity", this scholarly gathering expands the scope of our prior & Gala in honor of the Third International CultureWear meetings in Seoul and Osaka and explores the intersection between Conference and The Year of Immigration at the Yale Club various design disciplines and immigration, both in the United States of New York City 50 Vanderbilt Avenue New York, NY. and abroad. We encourage participation from all, so please save the More Information to Follow! date! The deadline for abstract submission for consideration as a pre- sentation is August 1. For more information regarding participation or sponsorship, please contact ERI. ERI’s Archive Digitization Joint Project with Korea n the past few years, ERI initiated and completed joint ar- (MOU) was signed by ERI and the Korean National Library Ar- chiving projects with Seoul National University (SNU) and chive Digitization Project (KNL) on June 25, 2010, the first part Photo by Mr. Kwon Yong Kwak Korean National Library (KNL). Both projects involved of three year project just began in May of this year. This ini- Snapshot from the February 12 meeting. the digitization of ERI’s archives. tial project will create a comprehensive bibliography on Korea I The SNU Kwang Lim Koh Archive Digitization project spanning from 1896 to 1970. This is the most comprehensive was finally completed this February under the leadership of Ms. bibliography on Korea for this time period, with information n April 8, 2011, a group of Korean American se- service. Youngaie Kim from SNU Library. The contents of this project in- from systematically selected bibliographies (both published and niors gathered at the Whitney Center to exchange One of the discussion’s recurrent themes was the impor- cluded Dr. Kwang Lim Koh’s handwritten notes from the 1950s, unpublished) that also references books in the Library of Con- ideas on how to improve the quality of life for tance of collective action in facilitating quality improvements in which span from his days as a student at Harvard Law School to gress, Harvard University, University of Southern California, UC older generations. The meeting was organized as everyone’s lives. Given the complicated nature of this type of his days as a lecturer at the Boston University School of Law. Berkeley, Yale University, Stanford University, et al. In addition a brainstorming session, and was meant to con- undertaking, the group decided that more time and outside exper- These notes record his reflections and research on international to references to books in Korean, the bibliographies will include Otinue a discussion first held on February 12, 2011 called by Mr. tise would be required to move further in achieving the goals set law, jurisprudence and legal history. The project also documented journal articles, book excerpts and dissertations in Korean, Japa- Kwon Yong Kwak to ask Dr. Hesung Chun Koh, the author of out by the discussion participants. The group agreed, however, Koh’s translated manuscript of Niida Nonobu’s “Chinese Legal nese, and English. An expected 10,000 titles will be digitized in “Meaningful Aging,” to introduce her book. This included the that Dr. Koh’s “Meaningful Aging Project” would be a good ve- History,” and his personal memoirs of his teenage years. Among this first year of the KNL-ERI project. We anticipate that this first introduction of ERI’s joint project to bridge cultural differences hicle for the group’s mission. Koh’s published works, the project documented articles on judi- part of the project will be completed by December 15, 2011. In between Korea and the United States on aging. Dr. Koh encour- A total of 14 seniors attended the April 8th meeting at cial procedure in China’s Tang Dynasty and Regulations of Fish- 2012, the second leg of the project will focus on the digitization aged Korean American seniors to publish their immigrant and the Whitney Center, and the meeting was led by Drs. Hesung eries in Northeast Asia. It also covered Dr. Kwang Lim Koh’s 10 of both published and unpublished English language resources multicultural experiences in English and to share their wisdom Koh and Doug Choi. The round table format allowed each at- volume series of the Miguk Pyongnon, (American Review), and on Korean culture and the Korean diaspora, produced by East with younger generations and American neighbors. tendee to participate in an informal and friendly manner. The US Presidential Elections, etc. Rock Institute. Visual materials related to the development of In their follow-up discussion on April 8, the group next "meaningful aging group” meeting will be held at Whitney We anticipate that additional materials, such as his Korea and Korean American studies in the United States will also discussed a wide range of topics that included geriatric health, Center on Friday May 20th, 2011.