Seminars

This event brings together two scholars whose recent work critically engages with the aesthetic, affective, and political practices that have shaped South Korea’s protest culture over the past decade. From the national trauma of the Sewol ferry disaster to the evolving landscape of contemporary demonstrations, these presentations examine how performance, ritual, and multispecies frameworks offer new understandings of democratic participation. Areum Jeong will present from her new book, Beyond the Sewol: Activist Theatre and Performance in South Korea and the Diaspora (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2025), the first monograph to explore how artists and activists have used performance to commemorate the ferry tragedy and mobilize public empathy. Gowoon Noh will present new research on the 2024–25 Yoon Suk-yeol impeachment protests, proposing a framework of “multispecies democracy” to analyze emergent solidarities and ethico-political imaginaries that extend beyond the human. Together, these two presentations will be in dialogue with Sohl Lee’s work on the minjung art movement and broader histories of participatory aesthetics in Korea, offering a timely discussion on the evolving role of art and performance in shaping democratic futures.