Symposium in Honor of Carter J. Eckert

On Friday, September 13, 2024, a symposium titled “Toward a Postnationalist History of Korea” was held in honor of Carter J. Eckert (Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History), at the Harvard Faculty Club. This all-day symposium, co-sponsored with the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, brought together former and current students of Professor Eckert to discuss major themes in modern Korean history. 

The symposium began with opening remarks by Nicholas Harkness (Director, Korea Institute; Modern Korean Economy and Society Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University); Melissa McCormick (Department Chair, East Asian Languages and Civilizations; Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Japanese Art and Culture, Harvard College Professor, Harvard University); Sean Dorrance Kelly (Dean, Division of Arts and Humanities; Teresa G. and Ferdinand F. Martignetti Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University); and Lawrence D. Bobo (Dean, Division of Social Sciences; W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University). Eun Mee Kim, President of Ewha Womans University and Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, delivered a speech titled “Carter Eckert: Institution Builder, Intellectual Beacon, and Martini.” 

The symposium – organized by Yumi Moon (Stanford University), Sungik Yang (Arizona State University), and Sun Joo Kim (Harvard University) – was divided into three panels that each addressed one of three major themes in modern Korean history: Mobility, Ideology, and Transnational Korea; Markets, Rural Society, and Postwar Capitalism in Korea; and Religion, Culture, and Kinship in Modern Korea. The symposium was attended in person by an overflow audience and was live streamed. The event concluded with Professor Eckert’s closing remarks.  

To learn more about the symposium, please visit https://korea.fas.harvard.edu/event/korean-history-symposium-toward-postnationalist-history-korea