Perspectives on Contemporary Korea Conference 2022

November 3-4, 2022 | University of Michigan

All times listed below are US Eastern Standard (Ann Arbor, Michigan) time. 

Thursday, November 3

9:00-9:30 AM // Welcome Remarks

Youngju Ryu, Director, Nam Center for Korean Studies, University of Michigan

Rory Walsh, Postdoctoral Fellow, Nam Center for Korean Studies, University of Michigan

9:30-11:30 AM // Panel 1: Food in Archaeology & History

Gyoung-Ah Lee, Professor, University of Oregon
Origins of Korean Bread and Butter- Rice and Soybean

Seungki Kwak, Assistant Professor, and Sujung Lee, PhD Student, Kyungpook National University
New approaches in tracing prehistoric Korean foodstuff: Application of archaeological chemistry

Suyoung Son, Associate Professor, Cornell University
Sa Sojŏl and Shifting Meanings of Cooking in Late Chosŏn Korea

Niamh Calway, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Oxford
The Introduction of Chillies into Korean Cuisine: A Comparison with the Iberian Peninsula

Discussant: Miranda Brown, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Professor of Chinese Studies, University of Michigan

1:00-2:10 PM // Panel 2: Food, Family, & Motherhood

Hyaeweol Choi, C. Maxwell and Elizabeth M. Stanley Family and Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies, University of Iowa
Home-cooking in Global Korea: Food and Gender in the Age of Neoliberalism

Miliann Kang, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
The Dumpling Dilemma: Food as Racialized and Gendered Performances of Culture and Care for Asian American Mothers

Discussant: Yuson Jung, Associate Professor, Wayne State University

2:20-4:00 PM // Panel 3: Food, Symbolism, & Authenticity

Jerome de Wit, Visiting Professor, University of Vienna
The Significance of the Apple-Pear to Korean-Chinese Cultural Identity

Sonia Ryang, T. T. and W. F Chao Professor of Asian Studies, Rice University
Kimchi in Diaspora

Chi-Hoon Kim, Lecturer, Rutgers University
Divided but Unified on Kimchi: The Politics of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage on the Korean Peninsula

Discussant: Jakob Klein, Senior Lecturer, SOAS, University of London

Friday, November 4

10:00-10:20 AM // Welcome Remarks

Rory Walsh, Postdoctoral Fellow, Nam Center for Korean Studies, University of Michigan

10:20 AM-12:00 PM // Panel 4: Food & the Heterogenous Korean Identity

Wonjung Min, Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile & Seoul National University Asia Center
High/Low Cuisine and Orientalism in Chile
Spanish and Korean

Sejung Yang, Instructor, Jeju National University
Local Food, Local Language, & Local Identity: A Case Study of the Traditional Jeju Buckwheat Wrap, Bing

Joo Young Lee, Assistant Professor, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Eating the Other: Branding Korea and Racial Discourses on Global Television Series Kimchi Chronicles

Discussant: Krishnendu Ray, Professor, New York University Steinhardt

1:00-3:00 PM // Panel 5: Food, Diaspora, & Belonging

Jessica Rossi, Research Assistant, and Maurizio Bertoli, Independent Researcher, Ca' Foscari, University of Venice
Sharing the same table: Italian and Korean cuisine encounters

Yeonjae Ra, Ph.D. Candidate, The Academy of Korean Studies
Transnationalism of producing and consuming kimchi in New York City

Mi Hyun Yoon, Ph.D. Candidate, Rutgers University, and Sonia Singh, MA Student, New York University
Digesting Korean Diasporic Food Culture in Palisades Park/Fort Lee: BCD Tofu House, Culinary Migration, and Nostalgia

Robert Ji-Song Ku, Associate Professor, Binghamton University, SUNY
The Pork Belly Fallacy: Koreans/Yemenis/Americans at the Gastronomic Crossroads

Discussant: David Chung, Professor, University of Michigan

3:00-3:30 PM // Closing Remarks

Korea Around the Table: Food, Culture, and Mobility

November 3 & 4, 2022 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI

Organizers

Rory Walsh (Nam Center for Korean Studies, University of Michigan)
Youngju Ryu (Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan)

Food exposes the intricacies and complexities of Korean culture and history. Food is quick and slow, tradition and innovation, codification and creativity, quintessentially local and a booming global industry. Food is social, whether served at a formal banquet or eaten on the street with friends. Food is lauded for its authenticity but is endlessly crossing borders and taking on new lives. Jjajangmyeon is Chinese food in Korea and Korean food abroad. One can eat sundubu jjigae in Seoul without realizing it was popularized in southern California. A bowl of budae jjigae remembers conflict but offers comfort. 

Guidelines for Submission

Short Abstract: A short abstract (no more than 250 words) should be included.

Submission Deadline: Monday, August 1, 2022 11:59 EST.

[Submit and Abstract Here]

Questions: Questions may be directed to ncks.kfood@umich.edu. Note that submissions will not be accepted at this address.

Final Submissions: For accepted abstracts only, complete papers will be due to organizers by Friday, October 21, 2022 11:59 EST.

The Nam Center for Korean Studies at the University of Michigan is seeking contributions for an edited volume on the topic of Korean food. This volume will focus on food as a fundamental component of culture and an ideal subject for interdisciplinary social inquiry. From the origins of Korean foodways to the pop culture icon K-food has become, we aim to explore the significance of food in the concept of Koreanness both domestically and in diaspora, while shedding light on regional histories and transnational movements in which food is embedded. 

We envision this volume as a resource for undergraduate education, and with further appeal to a broad audience. Chapters should provide a general introduction and summary of literature that place the author’s original research within a larger and more comprehensive narrative, and avoid overly technical or specialized language. We invite contributions on any topic related to Korean food, but are particularly interested in the following areas:

1. Origins, Staples, and Historical Foodways: This section investigates the archaeology and history of Korean staple foods such as rice, beans, hot pepper, and kimchi. It will explore how farming influenced social organization from the Neolithic through the Joseon era, how fishing shaped the local and regional relationships of ancient peoples, and what archival cookbooks by Korean and foreign authors reveal about Korea in the last few centuries. 

2. Colonialism & its Reverberations: How did food systems change during and after the colonization of Korea by Japan? How is this further reflected in efforts like the New Village Movement and the use of Korean agro-technologies to grow rice in Africa? How have nation-building and nationalism shaped Korea’s current food system?

3. Comparative Asian Perspectives: What do dishes like jjajangmyeon and ramen tell us about early modern migrations in East Asia? Korean milmyeon, Taiwanese niu rou mian, and Vietnamese pho all have connections to wars and refugees, while budae jjigae and musubi speak to camptown economies. This chapter will situate the modern history of Korean food in larger Asian political and economic dynamics.

4. Diaspora: How has Korean food changed among diasporic groups like the Koryo Saram, Zainichi, and Koreans in North and South America? How do Koreans outside of Korea use the production and consumption of food to negotiate their identities, and how does this change through generations? 

5. Heritage Politics: How does food as heritage play out with UNESCO inscription, food tourism, global Hansik, temple food, and food-centered rituals? How does food affect identity politics among different stakeholder groups in Korea? What qualities of Korean food appeal to a global audience?

6. Popular Culture: How has modern media such as comics, webtoons, vlogs, dramas, movies, and novels portrayed food and Korean people’s relationship with it? How is food used as a metaphor in these works, whether it is enticing or repulsive? What are global phenomena like mukbang communicating about Korea and the world?

The Nam Center will invite contributors to convene at our Perspectives on Contemporary Korea conference, November 3-4, 2022. Chapters will be selected for the volume based on the coherence of the book as a whole.