The Harvard-Yenching Library has announced its Travel Grant Program for the 2009-2010 academic year. The purpose of the grant is to assist scholars from outside the metropolitan Boston area in their use of the Harvard-Yenching Library’s collections for research. The application deadline is December 15, 2009.

There will be nineteen grants of $400 each (seven in Chinese studies, seven in Japanese studies, and five in Korean studies) to be awarded on a merit basis to faculty members and to graduate students engaged in dissertation research. Priority consideration will be given to those at institutions where there are no or few library resources in the East Asian languages and no major East Asian library collections are available nearby. Each grantee will also be provided with the privilege of free photocopying of up to 100 sheets. Awards must be used before August 1, 2010.

Applications for the travel grants, including a letter, a brief description of the research topic, and an estimated budget, should be addressed to: James K. M. Cheng, Librarian, Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard University, 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. Fax: (617) 496-6008. E-mail: jkcheng@fas.harvard.edu.

The Underwood International College of Yonsei University invites applications for a tenure-track position as assistant professor of East Asian studies. Field is open, though special attention will be given to applicants working in history and to those with interdisciplinary research interests who are able to teach a range of courses in the humanities. Please note that only non-Korean citizens are eligible to apply for this position.

Teaching responsibilities are six credit-hours (two classes) per semester. This minimum of two classes will be in the Core Curriculum. All courses are taught in a seminar style, with enrollment capped at 25 students. Teaching duties will begin in either March or September 2010.

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The Smith College Department of Art and the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) invite applications for a three-year, non-tenure track position as post-doctoral teaching and curatorial Fellow in East Asian art. Appointment will begin July 2010. Applicants must have demonstrably broad familiarity with the history of East Asian art; experience working with collections and Ph.D. are required.

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The Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto invites applications for a teaching-stream appointment at the rank of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer to teach Korean language effective July 1, 2010. Successful applicants should have a minimum M.A. degree in Korean language with substantial experience and proven excellence in teaching Korean as a second language at the university level. Native or near native fluency is expected together with an excellent command of English. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

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The 10th Biennial Pacific-Asia Conference on Korean Studies 2010 (PACKS 2010) will be held from November 24 (Wednesday) through November 26 (Friday), 2010, at the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

The conference organizers invite paper and panel proposals from established and junior scholars. Proposals from postgraduate students and emerging scholars are especially encouraged. Topics related to Korea from a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities and social sciences, including (but not limited to) history, linguistics, language pedagogy, literature, art, religion, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, political studies, economics, business, security and migration studies, are welcome. Special consideration will be given to papers and panels informed by a comparative perspective and broader regional approach.

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October 19 is the deadline to pre-register for the 19th Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference, to be held November 12-14, 2009, at the University of Hawaii Center for Korean Studies in Honolulu. Participants and others planning to attend the conference are strongly encouraged to pre-register in order to take advantage of lower registration fees and to assist the conference staff in its planning.

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The Center for Korean Studies fall colloquium series will begin with a presentation by Professor Jae-Gu Kim of Myongji University titled “CEO Leadership and Organizational Culture at the Korean Big Four Conglomerates.”

Kim is associate professor of organizations and strategy in the Department of Business Administration at Myongji and is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Korean Studies.

The colloquium, which will be presented in Korean, will take place Thursday, October 15, 2009, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Center for Korean Studies Conference Room.

For more information about Professor Kim’s planned presentation, see http://www.hawaii.edu/korea/pages/announce/events2009/coming36.html.

The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, invites applications for a tenure-track position at the level of assistant professor in Korean studies, beginning September 2010. Applications are invited from any of the key areas of Korean studies, including Korean language and literature, prose and poetry, intellectual history, cultural studies, visual and popular culture, films studies, and literary theory and criticism.

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The Center for Korean Studies is one of several local organizations joining in sponsorship of The Sound of Ecstasy and Nectar of Enlightenment October 8, 2009, at Kennedy Theatre.

The program of chants, drum and cymbal dances, and the elegantly costumed “Butterfly Dance” from the sacred Young San Ceremony will be presented in concert by the Young San Preservation Group.

Ticket information and a full description of the event, presented by the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa Outreach College in Association with the Korea Society, can be found at http://outreach.hawaii.edu/community/programs/2009/EVENT-EV0010458T.asp.

A short interview about the event featuring Center for Korean Studies faculty member Judy Van Zile can be heard on the Hawaii Public Radio Web site:
http://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/hpr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3840&Itemid=70.

Other sponsors include the Halla Huhm Foundation and the Korean American Foundation with additional support provided by Mu-Ryang-Sa Buddhist Temple and the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa Department of Theatre and Dance. Media sponsors are The Korea Times Hawai`i and Radio Seoul.

Honolulu television station KBFD-TV has won first prize at the 17th Worldwide Korean Language Broadcaster Conference for its new documentary film on the University of Hawaii Center for Korean Studies.

The documentary, titled UH Center for Korean Studies Embraces the World, features the background of the founding, history, and achievements of the Center for Korean Studies, and it looks forward to the Center’s prospective missions in the future. Since its founding in 1972, the Center has been at the heart of the development of Korean studies throughout the world and has, at the same time, maintained close ties with the Korean community in Hawaii.

The film was directed by Sang-jun Hyun and Byong-uk Kim. It will be televised on KBFD-TV at 9:30 p.m. on October 4, 2009, as part of a special program to celebrate ch’usok.

The award will be presented during a ceremony at KBS headquarters in Seoul on November 3. The award ceremony will be attended by KBFD officials and Prof. Edward J. Shultz, interim dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Pacific and Asian Studies and a former director of the Center for Korean Studies.

KBFD-TV also won first prize in the competition last year with a documentary titled We Call Her Bae Celebrity and in 2000 with the film Arirang of Yang Grandmother.