On November 24, 2015, there was a small ceremony to acknowledge the donation of JoongAng Ilbo newspapers from 1986 to 2000 to RCKC. Jongsuk Sung, the former editor-in-chief of JoongAng Ilbo from 1985 to 2004, was kind enough to donate over ten years of archives of the daily newspaper. These issues are a nice addition to RCKC's large archive of books, academic journals, and newspapers focusing on Korean Americans that are housed within our center's mini-library. A few years ago, we received issues of The Korea Times from 1977 to 1988. Since most Korean-language newspapers' online archives start at 2001, there was a twelve-year gap between 1988 and 2000 prior to receiving these papers from Ms. Sung. The 1986-2000 issues of the JoongAng Ilbo will bridge this gap nicely, and along with the old issues of The Korea Times, they are important historical documents for the Korean community.

The ceremony was attended by a current reporter from the JoongAng Ilbo, Pyong Gap Min (Director of RCKC), Jane Cho (Director of Administration, Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College), Jae Gi Kim (RCKC Visiting Scholar from Korea), Yongshin Cho (Queens College Visiting Scholar/Artist from Korea), some students from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and staff members of RCKC.

We would like to thank Ms. Sung for her wonderful gift, and we will put the newspapers to good use in our current and future research.

We would like to announce an upcoming group art exhibition that will be held at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College from February 1 to March 12, 2016. The 9th Hoyeon Art Group Exhibition will feature paintings by 15 Korean immigrant members of the Hoyeon Art Association of New York (HAANY). However, this year\'s exhibition takes on new meaning following the death of association founder Joo Sang Kim Lee (professionally known as “Hoyeon”) in December 2015. The works span a variety of themes and styles, from monochrome calligraphy to colorful representations of flora, fauna, figures, and landscapes. The exhibition will also include 30 works by the late Hoyeon in a second-floor exhibition space, accompanied by her portrait and a guestbook where visitors can share their memories of her life and work. Hoyeon began teaching the traditional art of brush-and-ink painting to immigrant Koreans in 1994 to help them reinforce their cultural identity and to help them relieve stress and express themselves through art in their adopted home of Queens.

An opening exhibition will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

Exhibition hours are Monday-Thursday, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The museum is free and open to the public.

WHAT: 9th Hoyeon Art Group Exhibition

WHEN: February 1, 2016 to March 12, 2016

Opening reception on Saturday, February 6, 2016, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

WHERE: Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College

EXHIBITION IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

For more information visit www.gtmuseum.org

RCKC's Sixth Annual Conference, "Made in Korea, Assembled in the U.S.: Personal Narratives of Korean Adoptees," was held on Saturday, November 7, 2015 at the Rosenthal Library at Queens College. This conference focused on the experiences of Korean adoptees who grew up in the United States. Eleven presenters from around the U.S. read from personal essays and shared intimate details of their lives with the audience, and approximately 100 people attended the all-day affair.

 This conference was a forum for Korean adoptees to share their individual experiences and to tell their stories on their own terms, and it was very powerful and emotionally stirring. Korean adoptees have been marginalized by the Korean and Korean-American communities for far too long, and we believe that it is important to embrace them as part of the Korean diaspora. There has been too much negative stigma unjustly imposed on Korean adoptees as well as their birth families, who are often pressured into giving up their children for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include Korean society persecuting single unwed mothers, ascribing orphan social status to adoptees, and an overall lack of support and resources for families or mothers who have difficulties raising children for whatever reasons.

 We plan on publishing an edited book with the essays presented at the conference as well as essays by a few additional individuals.

We would like to thank the Research Foundation for Korean Community (RFKC) and Queens College for making the conference possible. We would also like to thank Eleana Kim, Mee Hyun Gerstein, the International Korean Adoptee Association (IKAA), and Also-Known-As (AKA) for helping us publicize the call for submission of essays. And last but not least, we would like to thank the presenters for contributing their valuable time and energy in writing wonderful essays and traveling to Queens to participate. Special thanks to Mi Ok Song Bruining for allowing us to use the title of two of her poetry chapbooks as the title of the conference. 

On Saturday, October 17, 2015, the 21st annual Global Korea Award Ceremony took place at Michigan State University (MSU). The Global Korea Award (GKA) was created by the Council on Korean Studies at MSU in 1995 to recognize individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to cross-cultural understanding, global education, and the well-being of Korean people around the world. The two recipients of this year's GKA were Professor Pyong Gap Min (the director of RCKC) and Professor Robert M. Oppenheim (Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin). Past winners include professors of humanities and social sciences, promoters of Korean language education, politicians, medical doctors, missionaries, diplomats, activists, artists, and many others who have contributed to advancing the global understanding of Koreans.

The event was organized by the Council on Korean Studies at MSU and the Korean Student Organization at MSU, and it was sponsored by the Asian Studies Center as well as the Visiting International Professional Program at MSU. The Council on Korean Studies was established in 1992 to stimulate interest in Korea, to provide information about Korean cultural activities, to facilitate exchange programs between the U.S. and Korea, and to support programs related to Korea at MSU.