Happy Fall!!

First, I want to thank everyone who joined us for our Kick-Off event few weeks ago. The turnout was truly overwhelming—we were thrilled to see so many colleagues and students! If you weren’t able to make it, we hope you’ll join us for our upcoming events this year.

Although we typically send out a newsletter toward the end of each academic term, we have so much exciting news to share that we’re bringing you this special issue. Here’s what’s inside:

We hope you enjoy reading this issue, and as always, we welcome your questions and suggestions.

Warmest regards,
Hyeyoung Woo
Director of the Institute for Asian Studies
Professor and Chair of Sociology 

Introduction of Our New coordinator

Meet Omotola Oladapo

Omotola Oladapo is a doctoral student in Public Affairs and Policy here at Portland State University. She is from Nigeria. She holds an MBA in Finance and Investment from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, and a Master’s in Public Policy with a concentration in Global Affairs from Georgia State University.

Omotola is the founder of the Shela Quest Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in Nigeria in 2017. The foundation works to expand access to education for underserved children by providing exam sponsorships, mentorship programs, and skills development opportunities. She continues to build a body of work that integrates policy analysis, advocacy, and community impact.

As Outreach Coordinator, Omotola will focus on bringing people together and getting them informed and excited about Asian Studies. She will be reaching out to different groups on campus and in the community, planning events that are engaging and insightful to our community and beyond, and finding creative ways to show why Asian Studies is important and relevant to everyone.

K-Pop Academy

We were thrilled to bring the K-Pop Academy back to campus this year in collaboration with the Korea Culture Center in LA. The classrooms were filled with excitement, energy, and a wonderful sense of community. Here are a few photos capturing those moments!

After completing the program, most students shared that they were very satisfied with their experience. Several students commented that:

“The teachers and staff were amazing and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to experience learning from someone who has come internationally. Hope we can get more stuff like this in the Portland area.”

“I had a lot of fun. The experience was great, and I really felt like I improved singing-wise.”

“The dance teacher was very professional and energetic. It was super fun learning the choreography and I wish we can have more regular events!”

K-Festival

K-Fest, organized by the Korean Society of Oregon (KSO), celebrated Korean Independence Day (August 15) and was held on August 16 at Blue Lake Regional Park.

PSU’s Institute for Asian Studies (IAS) was invited to join the celebration, and our K-Pop Academy students showcased their talents through singing and dancing performances.

This year’s K-Fest was the largest cultural event of its kind hosted by KSO, featuring free food, games, and cultural performances enjoyed by more than 600 attendees. Kudos to our K-Pop students and instructors for their amazing performance and energy on stage!

Maggie Kingman: From Portland to Chuncheon in Korea

Maggie is a senior at PSU, double-majoring in International and Global Studies and Psychology. She was among the students who participated in a summer program at Kangwon National University (KNU) in Korea in 2025. Read her story to learn how this study abroad experience has enriched her academic journey at PSU.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Maggie Kingman, and I am a Senior at Portland State University who is dual dual-majoring in
International Global Studies and Psychology. I have tailored my degree to be as closely associated with the Korean peninsula as possible. I am currently the Leader of the World Language department’s Korean club on campus, as well as the President of KASA (Korean American Student Association). Outside of school, I am the proud parent of three cats and have been married for a little over nine years. You’ll also never see me without coffee!

My ties and interest in this area is unique, and this makes it hard to put into words. 2019 was a personally difficult year. Then, late into the year, I would serendipitously be introduced to K-pop, and this would bolster a huge change in my life and encourage me to return to school. Korea opened my eyes to the greater world and the many unique, complex, and beautiful communities that surround me. It made me curious. And that curiosity (along with coffee) is something that fuels my soul and inspires me to do and be better.

What was the most memorable experience while at KNU and in Korea?

There are so many! For context, I was at Kangwon National University in Chuncheon for two weeks and did a solo trip in Jeju for a week. Overall, one of the most memorable experiences was actually
deboarding the plane and realizing that I, a girl who never thought she’d even make it to California, was halfway across the world in a country she had only dreamed about visiting. Crying in the airport
limousine in front of several strangers was unintentional, but very much deserved. Echoing this, the most memorable experiences at KNU and in Korea were generally those that could be seen as unremarkable – being gifted a tomato from a taxi driver who told me my Korean was good, riding the subway after failing to get off at the right stop and having a passerby walk me to the correct station, my nightly walks to the convenience store for discounted ice cream cones, and even my payment of fried chicken and beer after playing pool and singing my heart out in Karaoke with my group. I loved every moment and experience this trip gave me, and the friends and people I had the privilege of meeting.

How did you find the KNU program helpful to expand your knowledge about the Korean language
and culture, and Korea in general?

One of the most important things about learning a language is immersion and practice. This can easily be translated to learning about other cultures as well – being book smart about a country or a language is vastly different from actually traveling there and experiencing everyday life or conversing with a native. I saw and experienced Korea not through the rose-tinted glasses of K-Dramas or textbooks that I had grown accustomed to, but in its reality. I loved being able to witness and take part in the daily lives and conversations of people who were around my age, even older or younger. I loved being forced into speaking Korean and being uncomfortable at times because it made me inspired to study and practice more. This program added a genuine dimension to my understanding of Korea by providing context through experiences I would have not been able to have had via books or other media.

Would you recommend a study abroad program in Korea to students at PSU? If so, what
would be your suggestion to make the experience more meaningful? And if not, what are
the reasons?

Echoing what I’ve said in previous answers, I think one of the best things anyone can do for themselves is travel the world and make themselves a bit uncomfortable. With that being said, I know that traveling anywhere comes with a cost and is a privilege. I would hope that people take this to heart and act with kindness, modesty, curiosity, and empathy. The most important piece of advice I can give to someone studying abroad is to find a place that speaks to you. It’s important that you have stock in the place you’re going to – you should treat it as an investment, not just for you to advance academically, but also personally. I also believe that you should go somewhere, not wanting to teach others about your culture, but to learn about theirs. Curiosity manifests itself in the humblest of hearts. Ultimately, I would recommend a study abroad program in Korea to students at PSU. A majority of the people who are interested in Korea primarily think of the nation in the context of Seoul (or Busan, Incheon, or Daegu). It was meaningful to see Korea outside of this narrative – to explore both the busy streets of Incheon and the relatively smaller city of Chuncheon, and the diversity and similarities in them. It was also meaningful to explore and experience the countryside. A nation is woven together of multiple landscapes and cultures, and I believe that the program, paired with my weekend or day adventures into other cities or towns, was pivotal to making the experience more meaningful.

Our 2025-2026 Events

Jeannie Kenmotsu, PhD
The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art
Portland Art Museum

Title: Reimagining the Portland Art Museum.

Maryann Bylander, PhD
Associate Professor of Sociology
Lewis & Clark College

Title: The Trade-Offs of Legal Status: Safe Migration, Documentation, and Debt in Southeast.

Yan Long, PhD
Associate Professor of Sociology
University of California at Berkeley 

Title: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China.

Andrew Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Tennessee at Knoxville 

Title: U.S. Race Relations and the Asian American Achievement Paradox.

Seungkyung Kim, PhD
Korea Foundation Professor
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Director, Korean Studies Institute
Indiana University Bloomington

Trena Gillette Memorial Lecture
Title:  TBD 

Institute for Asian Studies

Check out our website: 

https://www.pdx.edu/asian-studies/

Email us: asianstudies@pdx.edu