The Proto-historic Socio-cultural Transformations in Northeast Asia

(Lecture in Korean)

Image from Professor Sungjoo Lee

Sungjoo Lee, Professor, Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, Kyungpook National University

Tuesday, April 23, 2019
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Young Research Library (YRL), Main Conference Room
UCLA
Los Angeles, 90024

The proto-historic period in Northeast Asia represents a time of overall, dynamic transformations, which was unprecedented in human history. It was at this time that groups located far away from one another came to gain detailed knowledge of each other’s existence and characteristics. This brought about a great change to the worldview of the peoples of civilizations, as well as of the peripheries. Although variation may exist according to the degree of development in terms of transportation and communication systems, active political and ideological exchange, as well as trade, occurred between societies of different developmental stages and characteristics, and this accelerated socio-cultural transformations. In the Korean academic community, these proto-historic transformations have tended to be approached mainly from the perspective of understanding the ‘history of the Korean people’. However, research into the proto-historic period in the region of Northeast Asia has recently experienced significant changes. A reassessment of the past discourse, in particular on the topic of the phenomenon of ancient colonization, or of the way in which groups were objectified from the perspective of imperialism/colonialism or nationalism is of great importance at this time of post-colonialism.

koreanstudies@international.ucla.edu

Sponsor(s): Center for Korean Studies