Modern Korean Thinkers:
Late 19th Century to 1945
International Workshop
Organized by Sool Park, Dobin Choi, and Hyojin Lee Fromell
7–8 October 2026
University of Hildesheim
Room HC.G.2.07
The workshop brings together scholars working on modern Korean thinkers from the late nineteenth century to 1945 — a period in which Korean thought responded to colonial rule, religious reform movements and the encounter with European philosophy.
Each contribution presents one representative thinker on the basis of a key primary text in English translation, so that the texts themselves can be read and discussed together.
The guiding question is the concept of “philosophy” itself: how far can the framework of a Western-centred history of philosophy be applied to modern Korean thought, and what has to change when it is?
The workshop is the second event of the Hildesheim “Korean Philosophy Week”, following directly after the 11th Annual Conference of the North American Korean Philosophy Association (5–6 October 2026) at the same university. It is open to conference participants and to colleagues and students from Hildesheim.
Organizers:
- Sool Park (Hildesheim)
- Dobin Choi (Leiden)
- Hyojin Lee Fromell (Ca’ Foscari, Venice)
Impressions
Program
Each slot runs 60 minutes: 40-minute presentation + 20-minute discussion. All sessions take place in room HC.G.2.07 on the Main Campus. The language of the workshop is English.
Day 1 — Wednesday, 7 October 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30–09:55 | Opening & IntroductionSool Park (University of Hildesheim) |
| 10:00–11:00 | Slot 1 · 나혜석 Na Hyeseok Boram Jeong (University of Colorado Denver) |
| 11:00–11:30 | Coffee break |
| 11:30–12:30 | Slot 2 · 이제마 Yi Jema Hyojin Lee Fromell (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) |
| 12:30–13:45 | Lunch (Mensa) |
| 13:45–14:45 | Slot 3 · 최한기 Choe Hangi Seonhee Kim (Ewha Womans University) |
| 14:45–15:45 | Slot 4 · 최시형 Choe Sihyeong Jo Sunghwan (Wonkwang University) |
| 15:45–16:15 | Coffee break |
| 16:15–17:15 | Publication Planning Part A — Reader Modern Korean Thinkers (Brill): chapter structure, assignments, timeline Part B — Ueberweg. Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie, volume Philosophy in East Asia: Modernity (Korea): scope, contributors, deadlines · the volume has its own editorial meeting on 8–9 October |
| 17:15 | Close of the academic programme |
Day 2 — Thursday, 8 October 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30–10:30 | Slot 5 · 김일엽 Kim Iryeop Jin Y. Park (American University) |
| 10:30–11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00–12:00 | Slot 6 · 함석헌 Ham Sok Hon Song Chong Lee (Seoul National University) |
| 12:00 | Close → Lunch (Mensa) |
Publication Projects
The workshop is a working meeting toward two publications.
Reader Modern Korean Thinkers (Brill, planned). Each chapter is to present one thinker together with a first English translation of a key text. A model for this format is the recently published Korean Buddhism: Selected Readings from Primary Texts, edited by Jin Y. Park and Sumi Lee (University of Hawai’i Press, 2026), which makes twenty-five primary texts from the seventh to the twenty-first century available in translation — several of its contributors take part in the Hildesheim events.
Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie (Ueberweg). The Grundriss (Schwabe Verlag, Basel) is one of the oldest and most authoritative history-of-philosophy projects in the German-speaking world and the standard German-language reference work of its kind — from Antiquity and the Middle Ages to the series Philosophie in der islamischen Welt. The volume Philosophy in East Asia: Modernity (Korea) is in preparation, and the workshop discusses which thinkers and which key texts should represent its Korean part, and who will write them. An international editorial meeting for the Korean part follows directly at Hildesheim on 8–9 October.
Participation & Contributions
The workshop is a working meeting with invited contributors; attendance is open to researchers and students. To attend, please write to Sool Park (dolsool [at] gmail [dot] com) with your name and affiliation.
Contributors: final titles and abstracts (approx. 300 words) are due by 25 August 2026.
The workshop is supported by the Korea Foundation.
Directions, accommodation and travel information can be found on the NAKPA 2026 conference page; the workshop uses the same campus. Note that it takes place in room HC.G.2.07 (Building G), not in the Musiksaal.