College of Liberal Arts Hosted Lecture by Professor Emeritus Kim Young-key from George Washington University
- Date2024.07.16
- 34835
Dedicated Nearly 50 Years to Teaching Korean Language and Studies in the U.S.
Donated 100 Million KRW to Alma Mater, Established Kim-Renaud Humanities Award
On July 10th (Wednesday) at 3 PM in the Hak-gwan Building Room, the College of Liberal Arts hosted a special lecture by Professor Emeritus Kim Young-key from George Washington University, titled "Hunminjeongeum: The Mysterious Invention Where Humanities and Science Met."
Professor Kim has been a key figure in promoting Korean language and culture globally, having dedicated nearly 50 years to teaching Korean language and Korean studies in the United States. She is the eldest daughter of novelist Han Moo-sook (1918-1993) and graduated from the Department of English at Ewha in 1963 and went to the U.S. to study, where she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii. From 1983, she served as a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the prestigious George Washington University for 32 years, leading various initiatives to spread Korean language and culture abroad, including establishing the Korean Studies Institute. She founded the "Han Moo-sook Colloquium" named after her mother, creating a forum for discussions on Korean humanities, and published 13 books on Korean language and humanities. She also served as the president of the International Circle of Korean Linguistics and the editor of the journal Korean Linguistics. For her contributions, she was awarded the Ok-gwan Order of Cultural Merit by the Korean government in 2006, and she still serves as an honorary professor of Korean Language and Culture and International Relations at George Washington University and as the chief advisor to the Korean Studies Institute.
In her lecture, Professor Kim highlighted the excellence of Hunminjeongeum, which was designated as Korea's first UNESCO Memory of the World in 1997. She emphasized that Hunminjeongeum is a prime example of the successful convergence of humanities and science, explaining the principles and significance behind its creation. This special lecture was part of the local expert competency enhancement program supported by the 2024 University Innovation Support Project.
Meanwhile, Professor Kim donated 100 million won to Ewha to support the convergence of humanities and science research and the nurturing of future scholars. She believes that the advancement of interdisciplinary research combining humanities and science is of utmost importance. In recognition of her dedication and vision, the university newly established the "Kim-Renaud Humanities Award," which will be presented annually to an outstanding researcher. The award was named after her surname "Kim" and her husband's surname "Renaud," honoring Bertrand Renaud, a French economist. The first Kim-Renaud Humanities Award will be presented next year.