Report “Strategies for Promoting Successful International Collaboration in Convergence Technologies” submitted to Seoul National University

by

The Interdisciplinary Studies Program at Humanitas College, Kyung Hee University, submitted to Seoul National University’s Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology (AICT) a research report entitled “Strategies for Promoting Successful International Collaboration in Convergence Technologies: A Consideration of the Korean Bio-Medical Field” on September 1, 2011. This report was the culmination of Emanuel’s work over the summer including his discussions with University of Illinois, Yale University, MIT, RIKEN (Japan) and other institutes concerning effective strategies for international collaboration in convergence technology research.

The study was guided by Emanuel Pastreich, Eugene Pak, Ph.D.,  of SNU, AICT, and Vince Rubino of SEE GENE Incorporated. Michael Gehret, Associate Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies  and Richard Herman, Chancellor Emeritus of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, participated in the study.

We hope to expand the study into a long-term program for facilitating international collaboration in the near future.

 

Panel on Transportation and Resources in Mongolia at “Mongolia and Northeast Asia Peace” Conference in Ulaanbaatar

by

Panel on Transportation and Resources in Mongolia at “Mongolia and Northeast Asia Peace” Conference in Ulaanbaatar

Emanuel Pastreich had the opportunity to head a panel of experts for a discussion of opportunities and challenges in the energy, transportation and natural resources sectors held at the Global Peace and Leadership Conference “Mongolia and Northeast Asia Peace.”

The Global Peace and Leadership Conference “Mongolia and Northeast Asia Peace” (August 25-27, 2011) was a remarkable event bringing together wide range of individuals and groups committed to a peaceful and fair approach to social, cultural, economic and institutional integration in Northeast Asia. The choice of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as the site has particular significance as Mongolia is a new power in the debate on Northeast Asian integration. As an emerging economic center, with vast mineral resources and a tradition of leadership in both Central Asia and Northeast Asia, Mongolia has been visited recently by Korean President Lee Myung Bak and United States President Joseph Biden (Vice President Biden was still in town when our conference began on August 25).      

Read more

Teaching Korean Literature in English at Kyung Hee University

by

On Thursday, September 1, I gave my first lecture for a class on the novels of the Korean writer Park Jiwon for a class of undergraduates in the department of Korean Literature at Kyung Hee University. It was the first class ever at Kyung Hee University’s department of Korean literature that was explicitly designated for instruction in English and one of few such courses at Korean literature departments in Korea being taught in English.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has recently pressed forward with new guidelines for increasing the use of English at Korean universities. Launching a course in English in the Korean literature department has great significance as Korean literature is perceived as the most immune to change and the most closely associated with concepts of cultural conservatism.

Read more

Alliance for Environmental Technologies? What do you think?

by

I wrote this article for possible publication in Nautilus Institute’s NAPSNET newsletter about three months ago. Several individuals who read the manuscript, however, noted that my understanding of the technologies involved was mistaken and also suggested that I had not properly assessed the accident because of rather unreliable materials available on the internet.

I decided not to publish the article, but I do think the concept of an alliance for cooperation in the development of technologies to address environmental threats is worthy of consideration. I am placing the manuscript here in the hope that I may solicit the opinions of everyone.

Read more

Insurance in Korea is Forever

by

I renewed my life insurance the other day here in Korea and in the process had a chance to glimpse a bit of the culture of insurance in Korea. One of the most striking aspects of private health insurance in Korea today is life expectancy. Samsung Life Insurance was willing to bet I could live to be a hundred,

Read more

Asia Institute Seminar on Technology Convergence (article)

by

Wrestling with Convergence

Part 1: “What Convergence Hath Wrought”

Korea IT Times

August 19, 2011

The Asia Institute recently held a round-table discussion on the topic of technology convergence. The discussion was led by the director of the Asia Institute, Emanuel Pastreich, who serves as a professor at Humanitas College of Kyung Hee University. Also in attendance were Charlie Wolf,  director at the Social Impact Assessment Center, Paul Callomon, collections manager at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Stephanie Wan, technology policy specialist at NASA, Daniel Lafontaine, business consultant at AMA Korea; Alan Engel, president of Paterra, Inc. of Japan; Matthew Weigand, founder of Responsiv.Asia, Tahir Hameed, research fellow at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and Vince Rubino, Global Team Leader of Business Development at the Korea Institute of Toxicology. In this first part of a five-part series, the experts discussed the social implications of the rapid technological change that convergence represents.

Emanuel Pastreich: Moore’s Law holds that “the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled every two years for the last half century.” This phenomenon could be said to drive all the central trends in society,

Read more

“After Kimchi and Winter Sonata: The Intellectual Korean Wave” (article)

by

KOREA IT TIMES

After Kimchi and Winter Sonata: The Intellectual Korean Wave

August 16th, 2011

Emanuel Pastreich

The Korean Wave (hallyu) has swept the world. Korea’s romantic songs, thrilling movies and compelling television dramas have captured the imagination of a new generation-and quite a few from the previous generation. Although the mystique of Korean popular culture first took root in Japan and China, it has crept through Southeast and Central Asia and is now rolling into the Middle East and South America. Moreover, the Korean wave has extended to fashion and cosmetics, food and sports.

Nevertheless, although the Korean Wave has vastly enhanced Korea’s visibility, we find that further up in the food chain the Korean Wave has not started in earnest. The truth is that most intellectuals in the United States,

Read more

What is Unique about Korea and Technology?

by

 

To say that Korea is leading in technology is perhaps not the accurate term. In terms of basic research Korea does not have a definitive lead and there are plenty of others out there who have capabilities close to Korea’s. Even Mexico and Malaysia have some real assets. Rather there is something just more human about technology and its use in Korean society which makes it more acceptable within the community and allows for innovation in Korea that is harder in other countries simply because innovation in technology has come to mean a more inhuman society for so many.

Read more

What’s This about a Foreigner Teaching Park Jiwon’s Novels?

by

This article by 임송이 describes the class for the Department of Korean Literature that I will be teaching next semester. The class is in English and concerns the novels of Park Jiwon, the 18th century writer whose novels I recently translated into English. This class is the first class taught in English in Kyung Hee University’s department of Korean literature and I do not know of any other universities teaching Korean literature in English, but to do so makes sense these days as there are an increasing number of foreign students in Korean literature departments. In graduate school foreigners outnumber Koreans.

By the way, I was interviewed at Korea University for a position in the department of Korean Literature in 2006, but at the time the department decided against hiring a foreigner. Times have changed, and we realize that teaching Korean is not just about some cruel globalization project, but a reality about the very nature of Korea. As Korea’s cultural power increases, we will see more such efforts to bring in internationals.

Read more

Is the United States a threat even if it is just minding its own business?

by

Most of us are still a bit vague about where all that money is going to be cut from the federal and state governments of the United States. Perhaps some of the cuts will come out of the bloated military budget, thereby reducing the threats that our troops around the world are subject to, and at the same time also generate. Certainly many who actually serve in the military would welcome such a reduction in spending.

But we need to start thinking about a new and unprecedented security threat on a global massive scale: the United States without safety protocols and effective inspection regimes for the vast range of dangerous materials collected over the last sixty years.

The United States is a pile of chemical waste dumps, aging nuclear power plants, nuclear materials—and weapons—storage facilities, oil rigs, oil pipelines, mines (active and abandoned), armories and any number of railroads and highways that require an enormous investment to maintain safely.

Read more