'World Humanities Forum' Held in Silla's Thousand-Year Ancient Capital Gyeongju... 160 Scholars from 25 Countries Attend

Opening on the 19th at Bomun Tourist Complex Hwabaek Convention Center... Lectures and Subsessions 'Online and Offline' Held Until the 21st

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] The 6th World Humanities Forum, a grand festival of humanities hosted by the National Research Foundation of Korea, opened on the 19th at the Hwa-baek Convention Center in Bomun Tourist Complex, Gyeongju City, with over 160 scholars from 25 countries at home and abroad attending. The forum will continue until the 21st with keynote and thematic lectures, special lectures, and sectional sessions.

Co-hosted by the Ministry of Education, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, Gyeongju City, and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, this year’s forum is held under the theme "Harmony Humanities ? Efforts for Coexistence and Mutual Prosperity," conducted in both online and offline formats in line with the post-COVID-19 era trends.

On the first day of the forum, the 19th, the keynote lecture titled "Beyond Today’s ‘Constricted Imaginations’: Buddhist Exchanges from Gyeongju to Benares" was delivered by Robert Buswell, Distinguished Professor from the United States, followed by five thematic sectional sessions.

In the afternoon, the opening ceremony was attended by about 100 people including Yoo Eun-hye, Minister of Education; Kang Seong-jo, Deputy Governor of Gyeongbuk Province; Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju City; Seo Ho-dae, Chairperson of Gyeongju City Council; Kim Kwang-ho, Secretary-General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO; humanities scholars; guests; and organizing committee members, along with about 90 online participants.

After the ceremony, a keynote lecture titled "Humanistic Reflections on Harmony" was given by Kim Kwang-eok, Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University, followed by 10 sectional sessions.

On the second day, the 20th, a keynote lecture titled "Humanistic Reflections on the Current Status of Big Data" was delivered by Tobias Blanke, Professor from the United Kingdom, followed by 10 thematic sectional sessions. In the afternoon, special humanities lectures were given sequentially by Lee Jun-jung, CEO of the Future Exploration Institute, and Ham Soon-seop, Director of the National Daegu Museum.

On the final day, the 21st, David Martin-jones, Professor at the University of Glasgow, UK, will deliver a lecture titled "Post-Dependent Heritage: From Tourism to Contagion." The closing ceremony will follow, during which the "Declaration of Humanities Values," embodying humanistic values and directions, is scheduled to be adopted.

Mayor Joo Nak-young of Gyeongju emphasized, "Through this forum, I hope that the humanistic values and cultural and tourism resources preserved in Gyeongju will be widely known worldwide, enabling Gyeongju to rise as a global city of humanistic cultural tourism."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.