Koreanizing America: A Celebration of Korea’s Impact on American Culture

Professor Sang-Keun Yoo presenting to students and faculty alike during MASC's "Koreanizing America" event. Photo by Sarah Gurskis '26

Students who were interested in the growth of Korean culture were welcomed to “Koreanizing America,” the Marist Asian Studies Conference (MASC) on April 30.

Located in the Henry Hudson room in Fontaine, Marist University professor Sang-Keun Yoo and various panelists explained their research and findings about a variety of topics, spanning from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Students and faculty periodically joined for the different seminars, such as “Unpacking ‘K’ In Multiethnic K-Pop” with Wonseok Lee, “Counter-North Korea: Kim Yu-Kyeong’s Short Story Collections” with Eun Ah Cho and “Negotiating Colonial Dilemma through SF: Translating Verne’s SF in Colonial Korea” with Yoo. Each speaker had a presentation put together, along with a voice-to-translation software directly beside it for Korean participants.

“How can we understand K-fashion, K-beauty and K-pop, and how are we left with more incomprehensibility?” Yoo said during the questioning period.

Some students came out of curiosity, while others for class credit. “I’m here because I’m part of Yoo’s American Lit and Film Class,” Keira Carpenter ‘26 said. She said that she finds other cultures interesting and that it is important to learn about other cultures that have an impact on American society.

The midpoint break was a quick bite to eat, provided by the Marist Dining Services with Korean foods, such as a spread of gimbap. During the brief period, everyone could read over three poster board presentations by students that were themed around East Asian culture and media.

All presenters are highly educated in their respective fields of study, and their insight on Korean culture and American culture is important to acknowledge and appreciate as Asian American Pacific Islander month begins during May.