Contemporary Korea

  • Okdongsik

    Tuesday, June 2, 2026 | 6:00 PM
    With a philosophy rooted in simplicity, precision, and balance, Chef Dongsik Ok has reframed traditional Korean comfort food through a minimalist and modern lens. His eponymous restaurant Okdongsik’s signature dish is an elegant yet deeply comforting pork broth, dwaeji gomtang. Since its launch in Seoul’s Seogyo-dong neighborhood in 2017, Okdongsik has earned critical acclaim and recognition with the Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand distinction for eight consecutive years, establishing it as one of Seoul’s premier... Read More

  • The Illusion of Pastness: Hanbok on Screen

    Tuesday, May 19, 2026 | 6:00 PM
    Korean visual entertainment—including films, K-dramas, and K-pop music videos—is the result of highly sophisticated planning and production. These productions captivate a global audience by synthesizing music, narrative, and styling to deliver striking visual aesthetics and compelling emotional narratives. Costume is central to this production system, and it plays an instrumental role in the aesthetic appeal and popularity of the media. For luxury brands, K-drama serves as a powerful niche marketing platform,... Read More

  • Across Languages: New Voices in Korean Poetry

    Tuesday, April 21, 2026 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      Across Languages: New Voices in Korean Poetry brings together acclaimed South Korean poets Lee Jenny, Yoo Heekyung, Oh Eun, and Shin Hae-uk with award-winning literary translators Archana Madhavan and Stine An, for a Korean–English bilingual reading and conversation to share the dynamism and innovations of language in Korean poetry culture. Through poetry and discussion, the speakers examine the cultural centrality of poetry in Korea and consider translation as a critical, creative practice that reshapes... Read More

  • K-pop Fandom: Performing Deokhu from the 1990s to Today with Areum Jeong

    Thursday, February 12, 2026 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    K-pop fandom's practices and activities are a primary productive force, instrumental in shaping the genre's immense global appeal, as well as its cultural influence, politics, and future potential. Over the last thirty years, the K-pop fandom has grown, intensified, and diversified, while its activities have taken on new social, technological, and economic manifestations, some of which are exclusive to K-pop and others that align with the broader cultural and industrial dynamics of global mass entertainment.In... Read More

  • From Learning to Creating in Korea with Tyler and Nidhi

    Wednesday, January 28, 2026 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Learning the Korean language opens the doors into a completely new depth of understanding Korean culture, and perhaps a career you never imagined having. Join acclaimed media figures Tyler Rasch and Nidhi Agrawal—familiar faces from major Korean broadcast networks including JTBC, KBS, and MBC—for a reflection on their personal journeys living in Korea and learning Korean, and how those experiences led to their new venture. In this engaging conversation, Tyler and Nidhi will delve into how language can function... Read More

  • Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared | The Curatorial Roundtable

    Tuesday, December 2, 2025 | 6:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Chaekgado: Scholar’s Accoutrements in a BookcaseJoseon dynasty, 19th century© National Museum of Korea |  The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art presents Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared, the first U.S. exhibition of significant works from the renowned Lee Kun-Hee Collection. On view through February 1, 2026,  Korean Treasures features over 200 works, including a dozen National Treasures designated by the Korean government. The largest and most comprehensive presentation of Korean art... Read More

  • Modern Architecture in Korea: Travels through Terra Incognita

    Monday, November 17, 2025 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Photo by JongOh Kim |  Modern architecture in Korea is characterized by open and dynamic attitudes formed through a unique set of historical circumstances. Through colonial rule, war, and poverty, it was cut off from its older building traditions, emerging only in the latter half of the twentieth century as part of a condensed process of modernization. It is enigmatic in that its build first, think later (if at all) condition has rebuffed holistic narratives of its disjunctive evolution. Long dominated by the... Read More

  • Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness, and Longevity Michelle Jungmin Bang with Kathleen Kim

    Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Author Photo © Phoebe Miu As a Korean-American, Michelle Jungmin Bang grew up in a family of doctors, then spent years traveling, researching, and training in nutrition and preventative care to write and illustrate Sun & Ssukgat: The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness, and Longevity.The book follows one person’s journey to heal. This book is an homage to Michelle’s Korean heritage and two decades of living in Asia. In its pages, readers will find an inspiring man who reversed his type 2 diabetes and regained... Read More

  • Author Talks: Kim Suhyun & Anton Hur

    Wednesday, February 5, 2025 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    In a world where it can seem impossible to feel you are ever good enough, and where it’s easy to judge yourself by the unrealistic standards, I Decided to Live as Me offers guidance and encouragement for celebrating yourself and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Kim Suhyun is a writer and illustrator based in Seoul. In her own life, she realized that her self-esteem was the biggest battle she was facing. Surrounded by friends, co-workers, and especially social media, she couldn’t stop herself from comparing... Read More

  • Maybe Happy Ending: A New Broadway Musical

    Monday, November 18, 2024 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Image credit: MurphyMade |  Inside a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, Oliver lives a happily quiet life, listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a Helperbot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow Helperbot neighbor Claire asks to borrow his charger, what starts as an awkward encounter leads to a unique friendship, a surprising adventure, and maybe even…love? Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award,... Read More

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