DEADLINE: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 |

The Korea Emerging Scholar Lecture Series aims to grow thought leadership on Korea for a new generation of US scholars and practitioners. The Society selects a prize winner annually. The recipient receives air, hotel, and $2500 honorarium, and lectures at the Korea Society to members and guests on a designated date. The lecture may take place via Zoom depending on public health considerations. Applicants from Ph.D. to non-tenure track scholars, and research institution or non-profit equivalents, may apply.

Applicants should submit a CV, proposed lecture essay, writing sample, and two letters of recommendation from senior scholars or professionals electronically (PDF) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The application deadline is February 1 at 5 PM.

Sherman Family Korea Emerging Scholar Lecture Series Award

Presentations by Sherman Scholar Award Recipients

Architecture as Kisul in Postwar Korea: Building the Industrial Nation-State: 2020 Sherman Family Korea Emerging Scholar Lecture||
with Melany Sun-Min Park

2020 Sherman Family Emerging Scholar Lecture



The 2020 awardee is Sun-Min Park, a doctoral candidate at Harvard University, who discussed Architecture as Kisul (Science-Technology) in Postwar Korea: Building the Industrial Nation-State. Ms. Park addressed architecture’s relationship to state-led, large-scale industrial development in post-war Korea. Read More

P'ansori Mountain Pilgrimages: Land as Interlocutor in Contemporary Korean Oral Performance and Literature||
with Ivanna Sang Een Yi

2019 Sherman Family Emerging Scholar Lecture



University of Colorado Boulder Visiting Assistant Professor Ivanna Sang Een Yi addresses P’ansori Mountain Pilgrimages: Land as Interlocutor in Contemporary Korean Oral Performance and Literature. In a presentation both spoken and sung, Professor Yi conceptualizes the contemporary practice of p’ansori san kongbu, mountain study, as a form of pilgrimage. A reception follows the lecture, the third in this annual lecture series encouraging new thought leadership on Korea in the United States. Read More

Imagining the Impossible: The DMZ as a Productive Territory||
with Dongsei Kim

2018 Sherman Family Emerging Scholar Lecture



Architect and educator Dongsei Kim--recipient of the 2018 Sherman Family Korea Emerging Scholar Lecture Series award--explores how the discipline of architecture and landscape architecture investigates the Demilitarized Zone. Through the prism of spatial design and with three concrete examples, Professor Kim argues for a reformulation of exclusionary border conditions into inclusive spaces that become synergistic and productive for both Koreas. Read More

Maritime Conflict in Northeast Asia and Nationalism in Korea||
with Katrin Katz



Dr. Katrin Katz a graduate of Northwestern University addresses maritime conflict in Northeast Asia and the dynamics of nationalism in Korea. Dr Katz, who served on the National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration was selected by the Society as the first recipient of the Sherman Family Korea Emerging Scholar Lecture Series award, which encourages new American thought leadership on Korea.