Here is the recap of the 2025 fall semester of KSI. Thank you to everyone who participated and made these events possible!

We were honored to host Jeong-In Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow with the USC Society of Fellows in the Humanities, for a talk on the landscapes of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Thank you to all who joined in this conversation!

Thank you to all those who attended the Korean Speech Contest on Nov 1! This event was co-organized by the USC Korean Language Program and Korean language teachers from the Torrance Unified School District, and co-sponsored by the KSI and the Korean Language Teachers Association.

Thank you to all who attended the USC Graduate Conference in Korean Studies! Over the course of two days, graduate students presented research on Korean society, history, and culture. Thank you for creating a collaborative space.

The KF-USC Korean Studies Forum brought together scholars from across Southern California to share research in Korean Studies. Thank you, participants, for your presentations and discussions!

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Hangul Day! This celebration was organized by the Korean Language Program and co-sponsored by the Korean Heritage Library and the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

We had a fantastic turnout for the “Wylde Pak” screening and Q&A, featuring episodes of Nickelodeon’s hit animated series. A thank you to the production team and Professor Esther Chae. Co-sponsored by Nickelodeon, the School of Cinematic Arts, and the School of Dramatic Arts.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Speculative Storytelling and Speculative Technologies Workshop! Thank you to Professor Dae-won Noh, Visiting Scholar with the East Asian Studies Center, for co-organizing, and to the National Research Foundation of the Republic of Korea.

Join us for a guided walking tour highlighting Korean Heritage sites on and around campus! The USC K-Trail Walking Tour application link can be accessed on our homepage under "Upcoming Events & Announcements".

👏 Our Graduate Conference in Korean Studies this year was a success! 🎉 We got to hear from a group of talented rising scholars coming from far and wide who presented their research in a wide variety of disciplines. 😊 #uscksi #koreanstudies

This event marks the inaugural March First Symposium on History and Democracy. Conference speakers will address a diverse range of topics that span from transpacific critical reimagining to the contributions of diasporic activism. The RSVP link can be accessed on our website.

Join us for a dialogue with former Ambassador Cho Hyun and Councilmember Jon Kaji on "Opportunities and Challenges for US-Asia Relations," moderated by Professor Jane Junn (USC). To RSVP, please email Gloria Koo at gloriako@usc.edu.

Congratulations to @dafnazur for receiving the Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit for globalizing Hangeul #한글 by translating/publishing/teaching Korean literature & serving as Dean of the Korean Language Village at @ConcLangVillage since 2014 Former @csis-@USCKSI NextGen scholar!

👉 Looking to have a positive impact on campus? Join our Hangul Day event crew and be part of something special! 🎉✨ 📍 The deadline for volunteer applications is next Friday, September 27th! #uscksi #hangulday

Stephen Schick is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science & International Relations at USC. His research spans the fields of comparative and international political economy, investigating how changing economic conditions shape state-society relations under non-democratic regimes.

Kayeon Roh is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. Her dissertation research analyzes multi-directional contestations in the context of tributary relations in premodern East Asia.

Kangkyu Lee is a Ph.D. candidate and Presidential Fellow in International Affairs, Science, and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is primarily interested in how cyber security dynamics affect conventional alliance dynamics.

Siyu Liang is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science and an MS student in Statistics at UCLA. Her research interests are computational social science and political communication, with a focus on examining media dynamics within both authoritarian and democratic countries.

Jiwon Jung is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. Her main research interests are alliance politics, signaling, and bargaining.

Chi Fang is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. His research interests lie at the intersection of foreign policy, weapons acquisitions, defense industries, coercive diplomacy, and social network analysis.