Guest Lecture Presented by Kathleen Stephens, the First Female U.S. Ambassador to South Korea
- 작성처
- Date2022.09.16
- 6475
Guest Lecture Presented by Kathleen Stephens, the First Female U.S. Ambassador to South Korea
The Ewha Womans University Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) hosted a guest lecture by former U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens at the Lee Sam-bong Hall of the ECC building on September 15 (Thu.)
This lecture was presented as part of the “William J. Perry Lecture Series” jointly organized by the Ewha GSIS and the Pacific Century Institute (PCI), a nonprofit organization in the United States. The William J. Perry Lecture Series launched in 2016 is a program to offer insights for the promotion of peace and prosperity in the Korean Peninsula and has been held at Ewha since last year under cooperation between the GSIS and the PCI. Guest speaker Kathleen Stephens, who is contributing to Korean society as an active columnist and activist in related areas as well as the President & CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) and Board Chair of The Korea Society, shared her knowledge and experiences with audiences at the lecture.
The event commenced with opening remarks by Dean Brendan Howe of the GSIS and a welcome speech by President Eun Mee Kim. President Kim said, “I hope that former U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens’s experiences as “the first woman” in numerous diplomatic positions and her deep insight into female leadership and gender issues will inspire Ewha students who dream of becoming global leaders someday.”
In the special lecture presented under the theme of “Gender in Politics and Diplomacy: American and Korean Perspectives,” former U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens shared her experiences of gender issues from the perspectives of politics and diplomacy of Korea and the U.S., reflecting on her career of around 50 years from her first experience of Korea in the 1970s to the present day.
The event continued to a conversation, a discussion forum, and a Q&A session for students, presided by Invited Professor Jie-ae Sohn of the Dept. of International Studies at the Ewha GSIS. The event was attended by around 150 students from the GSIS, Scranton College, and exchange students. The participating students asked various questions about gender and women’s rights issues and Ms. Stephens answered, “We have to look at issues and cases from the gender perspective and strengthen related policies. In turn, these efforts will lead to even greater change.” The special lecture will be made accessible to the public via the official Ewha YouTube channel.