Book Café: Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the U.S. October 22, 2008

ook Café: Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the U.S.

Book Café

with

Alexis Dudden, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut
Author of Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the United States

Stuart J. Thorson, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University

Hyunjin Seo, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
5:30 PM-6:00 PM * Registration and Reception
6:00 PM-6:30 PM * Screening of Lee Su-Jin’s Enemy’s Apple
6:30 PM-8:00 PM * Discussion and Q&A

The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor
(Building entrance on SW corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street)

In international relations, formal, public apologies from one nation to another for historical injustices are supposed to be a prerequisite for healing the rift between aggressor and victim countries. Yet, even when the apologies are delivered, they rarely seem to achieve their goal. According to Alexis Dudden, when governments apologize for past crimes, they can end up robbing their victims of the dignity they seek while affording the state that represents them a new means with which to legitimize itself.

Examining the politics and history of formal international apologies, Dudden focuses on the problematic relationship binding Japanese imperialism, South Korean state building, and American power in Asia. She examines this history through diplomatic, cultural, and social considerations in the postwar era and argues that the process of apology has created a complicated situation from which none of these countries can escape without undoing decades of mythmaking.

$10 for members and students, $15 for nonmembers
(Walk-in registration will incur an additional charge of $5.)

For more information or to register for the program, contact Patrick Clair at (212) 759-7525, ext. 328, or patrick.ny@koreasociety.org.

About the Speakers

Alexis Dudden is an associate professor of history and director of humanitarian studies at the University of Connecticut.

She is the author of Japan's Colonization of Korea: Discourse and Power (2005), Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the United States (2008) and numerous articles in edited volumes and journals such as Partisan Histories: The Past in Contemporary Global Politics, Japanese Studies and The Journal of Pacific Asia. Dudden has previously taught history at Connecticut College and received fellowships from Harvard University's U.S.–Japan Fellowship Program, the American Historical Association and the Japan Foundation. She holds a Ph.D. and MA in history from the University of Chicago.

Stuart J. Thorson is a professor of international relations and political science in The Maxwell School of Syracuse University.

Thorson created, designed, and oversaw the implementation of the Maxwell School's Global Collaboratory; a facility using advanced communications and computing technologies to support global research collaborations and distributed learning.

He has co-authored two books on conflict resolution and over forty articles and book chapters in the areas of foreign policy, decision-making, computer modeling, and democratic theory. His current research interests are in the uses of information technology in support of governance and the role of science in diplomacy. Thorson directs the Syracuse University integrated information technology research collaboration with Kim Chaek University of Technology (DPRK) and is co-director of the Regional Scholars and Leaders Seminar initiative. He is a founding member of the National Committee on North Korea (U.S.) and a co-founder of the U.S.-DPRK Scientific Engagement Consortium.

Thorson has advised domestic and international universities, corporations, and governmental units on uses of information and communications technologies to enhance organizational effectiveness, governance, and distance collaborations. His research has been funded by organizations including the United States Information Agency, IBM, the Midwest Consortium for International Security Studies, the National Institute for Dispute Resolution, Digital Equipment Corporation, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Ford Foundation, Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Korea Foundation, Gale International, the United States Institute for Peace, the National Science Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Macarthur Foundation.

Thorson earned his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Minnesota.

Hyunjin Seo is a Ph.D. candidate at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. Her research interests include international communications, public diplomacy, science diplomacy, and new media. She has published academic articles analyzing media coverage of North Korea and the Six-Party Talks.

Before coming to the United States in 2006, she worked in Seoul as a diplomatic correspondent for The Korea Herald, a South Korean newspaper, and published analyses on international affairs issues for Thailand-based Asia Times Online. For six years with the Korea Herald, she covered South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and Unification Ministry. As a part of her responsibilities, Seo made 12 trips to North Korea, and covered the first two rounds of the Six-Party Talks in Beijing.

Seo holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and an M.S. in international relations from the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University.

Official Website: http://www.koreasociety.org/contemporary_issues/contemporary_issues/book_cafe_troubled_apologies_among_japan_korea_and_the_u.s.html