CHS 100 minute Talk 22-4 with Dr. Mary Ainslie | Seoul National University Asia Center

Date: June 28th, Tuesday, 2022, 17:00 – 18:40
Online via Zoom [in English]

Speaker: Dr. Mary Ainslie (Associate Professor in Film & Media, University of Nottingham)

From the early 2000s when the academia began to evaluate Hallyu, the focus has been on the popularity of Hallyu as it reached out to Europe and the Americas from East Asia. However, interest in the Southeast Asian region has been rising in the recent decade, due to ASEAN conglomerates and the fact that this geopolitical region has grown economically to a global level. Korea has retained firm political and economic relations with other East Asian countries with abundant research resources, and Hallyu has been an important key in the formation of such relations. Yet while Hallyu studies tend to overly celebrate the high evaluation of Hallyu from abroad, the cultural and economic diversity of the entire ASEAN region problematizes Hallyu’s appeal. This seminar will examine the difficulties and problems faced by Hallyu researchers and especially focus on the Southeast Asian region. This will offer an important perspective on the cultural relationships between diverse countries as well as highlight how academia can present visions to solve the issues at hand.

Dr. Mary J. Ainslie is an Associate Professor specializing in communications throughout Southeast Asia, with specific emphasis upon Thailand and Malaysia, as well as the wider intercultural links between the East and Southeast Asia regions. Previously Head of Film and Television studies at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus in Kuala Lumpur, she moved to the Nottingham Ningbo campus in 2017 to further film and media studies, introducing several courses and developing creative arts. She is now Deputy Head of the School of International Communications, and a recipient of the prestigious Nottingham Vice-Chancellor’s Award for her learning activities.