Honam University Seeks to Maintain Social and Regional Identity and Assets Based on Ultra-Localism

6th Colloquium on "Decoloniality and Regional Literature Education" Held

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Honam University announced on the 10th that it held the 6th colloquium of the 3rd year on the theme of "Decoloniality and Regional Literature Education" on the 9th.

This was promoted as part of the Korea Research Foundation's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institute Support Project (Principal Investigator Yoon Young).

On the day of the colloquium, which marked the conclusion of the first phase of the project, Professor Choi Hyun-joo from the Department of Korean Language Education at Suncheon National University was invited. Following the 5th colloquium, the discussion sought humanities-based approaches to explore regional identity and maintain regional assets in a hyperconnected society.

In her lecture, Professor Choi emphasized that language is inherently an incomplete entity and warned against the tendency to categorize the world flatly through language. She stressed that this is the most fundamental literacy skill to be cultivated in a hyperconnected society.

She argued that not only literature education but all academic disciplines should move from knowledge-centered to practice- and sensory-centered approaches, and mentioned that it is always important to have "eyes that can see differently" for this purpose.

She also added that this is the core of decoloniality and a mindset that researchers must uphold in a diversified society.

After the lecture, participants continued the discussion on the definitions of "regionality," "regional literature," and "regional assets," seeking practical and educational alternatives to cultivate glocal literacy competencies.

This colloquium was planned twice, along with the 5th colloquium held on the 2nd, with the intention of reflecting on the significance of regionality that should rather be preserved and developed in a hyperconnected society, and it concluded with the 6th colloquium.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Honam University is the only private university in the Honam region selected for the Korea Research Foundation's "Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institute Support Project" (Principal Investigator Yoon Young). It is currently conducting research under the theme "Research on Liberal Arts Education to Cultivate Humanities Literacy Skills in a Hyperconnected Society," receiving 1.2 billion KRW in national funding over six years.

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