Past Events at the Centre for the Study of Korea
November 2018
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Friday, November 2nd “Baby Miles”: Reproductive Rights, Labor, and Ethics in the Transnational Korean Reproductive Technology Industry
Date Time Location Friday, November 2, 2018 2:00PM - 4:00PM Seminar Room 108N, 1 Devonshire Place + Register for this Event Print this Event Bookmark this Event
Description
This research project examines the transnational circuits of the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry in South Korea to demonstrate how the concepts of reproductive rights and labor have been contested, negotiated, and reconstructed by various actors—including infertile couples, gamete donors, gestational surrogates, state agents, and medical professionals—across national boundaries. This study envisions reproductive ethics as part of a transnational feminist agenda by examining the ethical issues raised by the complicated relationships between intended parents and gamete donors/gestational surrogates. Drawing on three years of multi-sited ethnographic research conducted in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ukraine, this project disputes the unilateral understanding of ART, which is typically conceptualized as having a unidirectional flow from the “West” to Asia, by focusing on the complex relations between Korean intended parents and non-Korean gamete providers and gestational surrogates.
Dr. Sunhye Kim is currently the Soon Young Kim Postdoctoral Fellow in Korean Studies at the Korea Institute, Harvard University. She earned her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland in 2018. She received her B.A. and B.A in Sociology at Yonsei University, Seoul, and worked at the Korean Women’s Development Institute as a researcher. Sunhye’s research and teaching interests are related to the politics of human (re)production in transnational Asia; in particular, her research centers on the study of the transnational circuits of the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry as a site of interdisciplinary inquiry.
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.
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Saturday, November 17th Community Film Screening of "Face, the Other Side"
Date Time Location Saturday, November 17, 2018 2:30PM - 5:30PM External Event, Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave Print this Event Bookmark this Event
Description
Film screening: 2:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Discussion and Q&A with Director LEE Sun Hee: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
* Event is presented bilingually, in both English and Korean: film screening has Korean audio with English subtitles; Discussion/Q&A will have Korean/English interpretationFilm Synopsis:
The culture of men watching illegally filmed videos of sexual violence is becoming a huge problem in Korea. Videos of sexual intercourse filmed without the consent of women, are publicly shared on illegal sex violence video sites. Female victims of these videos are branded as ‘something-something girl’ and become content products that are bought without copyrights. These transactions have created a huge market. Women can’t help but live in constant fear of getting their exposed bodies or sexual intercourses filmed anywhere, anytime, by anyone. Yet, the police are tepid with investigations and punishments, and consequently female victims’ lives are destroyed psychologically, socially, and financially. Infuriated by reality, some ordinary women have turned into political feminist warriors. Getting by with part-time jobs, they voluntarily gather together, and spend countless hours trying to identify the faces of the consumers of illegal videos so that they can collect enough evidence to report to the police. They also erase the victims’ videos and help them restore their life. Face, the Other Side goes beyond investigative reporting rather than simply unearthing the criminal cartel that consumes, produces, and distributes sexual violence videos. The film is an empowering story of young women growing into feminists and activists to reclaim the control of their bodies. They are the ones who change the world. [CHO HyeYoung]Director Bio:
LEE Sun Hee
Femi-tator – it is a word that I coined, as well as a value, and an occupation. My job is to organize and systematize women’s indignation. I write, make speeches, and sometimes bring my camera around to make documentaries, and dream of a world where feminism is common sense.
In a few years, I hope to see NAH Hye-suk, the protagonist of my screenplay, Draw the Light, from long ago, on the screen and saying the line, “Virginity isn’t my hobby.”
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.