Emily Colwell
Contributing Writer
Hyun Kyung Chung, associate professor of ecumenical studies at Union Theological Seminary will be on campus Monday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. to present her public lecture titled “Transnational Feminism & Contemporary Feminist Activism: Her Personal Journey from Captivity” in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall.
This presentation is the kick-off to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Week (April 13-17) and is co-sponsored by the Office of the President, the Center for Diversity and Global Engagement, the Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries and the Department of Environmental Studies.
Chung is a Korean Christian theologian. She received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea, her Master of Divinity degree from the School of Theology at Claremont Graduate University, a diploma from the Women’s Theological Center in Boston and a doctorate from Union Theological Seminary.
Chung defines herself as a “salimist,” meaning a Korean eco-feminist, and is in the process of becoming a dharma teacher at the Kwan Eum Zen School in New York City. Chung’s interests revolve around feminism, eco-feminist theologies and spiritualities from Asia, Africa and Latin America. She has written several articles and books, her most famous being Struggle to be the Sun Again: Introducing Asian Women’s Theology.
“[It] interweaves personal experiences with her own faith and how theology is executed within Asian context,” WGSS major Ashley Chavez-White ’15 said of Chung’s book.
Chavez-White is a large part of why Chung is speaking at the College, as she attended a retreat where Chung spoke and was immediately inspired.
Chavez-White explained, “what honestly made me so excited to have her here is how she speaks about her journey. Her stage presence is just mesmerizing. … It is something I can’t explain; she is an old soul with so much energy.”
Professor Katherine Holt of the history department and Curriculum Committee chair for both the WGSS and Latin American Studies departments summed up her enthusiasm by saying, “We are very excited to have such an important and inspirational speaker on campus!”
Chung will be in the Douglass Lounge for a student discussion on Tuesday, April 14 from 9-10:30 a.m.
As for the rest of WGSS Week, on Wednesday, there will be a Bollywood film showing of Bride and Prejudice at 6 p.m. in the Lowry Lounge. Dr. Debotri Dhar from the WGSS department will lead a discussion after the film. Finally, on Thursday, there will be a “Feminist Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon” in the CoRE in Andrews Library from 2:30-5 p.m.