Humanities Week to start on Monday

South Korea’s Education Ministry on Tuesday said a series of events including lectures and forums will be held next week under the title “2014 Humanities Week” as part of efforts to promote the humanities among the public.

A total of 46 organizations including universities, government bodies and civic groups will partake in the annual event, cohosted by the ministry and the National Research Foundation of Korea. The events will kick off on Oct. 27 and will conclude on Nov. 2

The opening ceremony will be held at Seoul Baekje Museum in Songpa-gu. Han Young-woo, a renowned historian and professor emeritus at Seoul National University, will speak about the meaning of “seonbi,” or traditional Korean scholars, in the 21st century.

The highlight of the week will be the World Humanities Forum, to be held from Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Acclaimed scholars including novelist and Princeton professor Lee Chang-rae; Peter Galison, a history of science professor from Harvard; and chemist Reiko Kuroda from Tokyo University will discuss the role of the humanities in an era of scientific discovery and technological advances.

Further information about the events is available at www.worldhumanitiesforum.org.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)