Call for Papers 

Reframing Contemporary Korea: Language, Culture, and Society 

The Centre for Korean Studies (CKS), SOAS University of London, in collaboration with Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), invites applications from MA and PhD students to participate in the first SOAS–INALCO Joint Postgraduate Conference, to be held online on Friday, 5 June 2026.

This one-day postgraduate conference aims to create a supportive and interdisciplinary platform for emerging scholars to explore and reframe contemporary Korea through the interconnected lenses of language, culture, and society. Bringing together postgraduate researchers from SOAS and INALCO, the conference encourages critical engagement with social transformations, cultural production, and linguistic practices in contemporary Korean contexts. With a strong emphasis on postgraduate research development and scholarly exchange, the conference seeks to foster dialogue across the humanities and social sciences, while strengthening research networks and collaboration among early-career scholars in Korean studies, particularly those based in Europe.

Suggested themes

We particularly welcome innovative and critically engaged approaches to contemporary Korean language, culture, and society. Suggested themes include, but are not limited to:

•   Popular culture and global Korea (K-pop, K-drama, film, webtoons)

•   Literature, cultural memory, and historical narratives

•   Media, fandom, and transnational cultural circulation

•   Korean language, digital communication, and AI

•   Social change and generational dynamics in contemporary Korea

•   Gender, family, and labour

•   Education, inequality, and social mobility

•   North–South relations and diasporic perspectives

Submission Guidelines

Applicants are invited to submit an abstract of up to 300 words, together with a short biographical statement of up to 100 words, in English. Submissions should be sent to Dr Youkyung Ju-Zaveroni (yj7@soas.ac.uk) and Professor Jeong Eunjin (eunjin.jeong@inalco.fr) by Thursday, 2 April 2026. Enquiries regarding the conference may also be directed to these addresses.

Key Dates

· Abstract submission deadline: 2 April 2026

· Notification of acceptance: 20 April 2026

· Submission of presentation materials: 25 May 2026

Conference Format and Language

The conference will be held online. Each presentation will be allocated 15–20 minutes, followed by a Q&A session. The conference languages are English and French. Presentations delivered in French should include an English summary.

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