Korea Colloquium
Hajin Jun
Assistant Professor of Korean History in the Department of History and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington
Hajin Jun is the James B. Palais Assistant Professor of Korean History in the Department of History and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Jun’s research and teaching focus on the history of modern Korea, the Japanese empire, and global Christianity. Her current research critically examines the politics of ritual reform as a lens to explore religious identity, social change, and colonial power in Korea under Japanese rule. Prior to joining the University of Washington, she received her PhD in history from Stanford University and a BA in history and political science from the University of Michigan.
Chaired by Sun Joo Kim, Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History, Harvard University
Abstract:
Rituals have long oriented Korean life. During the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910), shared Confucian ritual norms helped define Koreans’ cultural values, moral obligations, and very sense of self. Rites remained as important as ever in the ensuing period of Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). This talk examines how the early twentieth century witnessed the fragmentation and reinvention of Korean ritual traditions unprecedented in scale. At the center of this upheaval were fast-growing Protestant communities. As iconoclastic Christian converts rejected Confucian rites in favor of their own, Korean society roiled with frenzied public controversies over ritual and religious difference. Were rituals primarily a matter of personal belief—and thus open to endless sectarian division—or, should rituals be standardized anew to remake and unify Koreans during a time of colonial empire? This talk will show that competing efforts to re-imagine collective ritual norms, spearheaded by groups as disparate as Protestant communities, Confucian intellectuals, nationalist reformers, and Japanese colonial authorities, illuminate the urgent political problem posed by modern religion in colonial Korea.
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To attend this event online, please register here.
Generously supported by the Young-Chul Min Memorial Fund at the Korea Institute, Harvard University
LOCATION:Thomas Chan-Soo Kang Room (S050), CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20241205T213000Z DTEND:20241205T230000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR