Last week, the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures hosted Korea Week on campus. According to the Liu Institute website, the theme, “Crafting Korean Excellence and Celebrating Hangul (the Korean Language),” aimed to showcase “the beauty and excellence of traditional arts and culture,” and celebrate the 579th anniversary of Hangulnal (Korean alphabet day).
Professor Yeonhee Yoon, who coordinates the Korean language program and teaches Korean language and culture courses, shared that the intention behind the theme was to exhibit “the underlying structure, the intellectual, aesthetic and philosophical approach to art and life, that allows modern Korean culture to flourish globally.”
Korea Week events began on Wednesday with a Korean food feast where students, faculty and staff gathered in the Jenkins Nanovic Hall atrium to taste traditional dishes. “I think [a] moment of delight was how many people showed up for our food tasting. We underestimated the power of food,” senior communications specialist at the Liu Institute Jennifer Lechtanski said.
Following the feast, artist Karen Ahn led a “maedeup” workshop, teaching attendees the traditional Korean knot art form. Lechtanski, who attended the session, said a personal highlight was “to see everything, the display that Karen brought in, not only her personal collection, but also other handcrafted arts from her mother, and just the history and importance that that artistry has from one generation and being able to share it with others.”
Later that evening, the Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago and ASCEND, Notre Dame's K-pop dance team, performed a traditional Korean music concert. Taihiro Thompson, a student assistant at the Liu Institute, emceed the concert and shared that fellow students who attended the show described the experience as emotional and impactful.
“Being able to see that all live in person was just such a crazy experience because I can literally still feel like the beating in my heart with the drums when they were performing in front of me,” Thompson said, referring to a performance of Samulnori, a traditional drumming style. Reflecting on the performance, he expressed regrets that more students hadn’t come to see it.
On Thursday, students and faculty gathered around a Korean culture booth, where they played traditional games such as “Gonggi” and “Ddakji.” Both games were recently popularized by Netflix’s popular show “Squid Game.” In addition, attendees decorated and took home small souvenirs like notebooks and bookmarks.
The celebrations continued Friday with ASCEND’s live K-pop performance on Library Lawn.
Korea Week concluded on Saturday with a bookmark-making workshop off-campus at St. Joseph County Public Library. KK (Kum Kang) Lee, the Liu Institute program manager for research and strategic initiatives, said he was both surprised and encouraged by the turnout of local families and children. “I hope the kids take away good memories from the event,” he said, “and keep a positive attitude towards Korean culture.”
According to Lee, Korea Week came together almost by coincidence. He explained that several separate events had been planned, but a collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center of Washington, D.C. helped unify them into a weeklong celebration. The Korean Cultural Center had done campus events before but never in the Midwest region, creating a new experience for both the center and the University.
Additionally, Korea Week also happened to fall on two major Korean holidays, Hangulnal and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). Lee believes the coincidental timing contributed to making the week more meaningful.
One event, the screening of the film “Mal-Mo-E: The Secret Mission” (2019) was held on Hangulnal. The film tells the true story of the Korean Language Society’s efforts to preserve the Korean language during Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula, a time when ruling authorities banned the use of Korean in public institutions and punished preservation efforts.
Before the screening, Yoon introduced the history and meaning behind Hangulnal. “Hangulnal, Korean Alphabet Day, commemorates the creation and proclamation of the Korean alphabet.” She shared that “for the Korean people, Hangul is much more than a writing system. It is a symbol of national pride, intellectual independence and democracy.”
The alphabet was created by King Sejong in the 15th century, who hoped to replace the previous writing system that consisted of complex Chinese characters, Hanja. “[This] meant literacy was confined almost exclusively to the wealthy elite and scholars,” Yoon said. “King Sejong’s purpose was clarity and accessibility,” Yoon said.
Faculty and students have mixed opinions on the level of interest in East Asian cultures. While faculty such as Yoon and Lechtanski observed more students interested in the growing number of Asian courses offered on campus, students like Thompson thought engagement with Asian culture has remained relatively stagnant.
“There’s obviously been growth in the Asian community’s numbers, but I wouldn’t say the awareness or interest in Asian culture has grown overall,” Thompson said.
Both faculty and students hope to have more events like Korea Week on campus and look forward to the impact they have on the community. “I think it’s just important to have these opportunities to honor other cultures. It’s an excellent way to bring people together and sometimes the best way to be able to spread that knowledge is our events like these,” Lechtanski said.
In addition, Lee noted that the efforts to share Asian culture have been community wide. Lee, who lived in Korea for more than 30 years before coming to Notre Dame, said that “even though the number of Korean and Korean American students and faculty is small, there’s already a strong passion and interest for Korean culture here.” He referred to ASCEND, Notre Dame’s K-pop dance team made up of diverse students, as an example.
Lee added that cultural events on campus like Korea Week are essential to bridging Notre Dame with the world. Events like Korea Week “make the campus more global and [help students] get to know the world better,” he said.
Yoon echoed his sentiment. “In today’s interconnected world, understanding the culture and history of a major global player like South Korea isn’t niche. It’s a critical component of being an educated global citizen, regardless of whether you study engineering, business or literature.” She hopes that through Korea Week, her “students and colleagues discover[ed] the depth and resilience of Korean culture.”
