Centre for Cross-Cultural and Korean Studies
An interdisciplinary centre for comparative research projects in the Humanities.
The Centre specializes in Euro-Asian comparative studies, the research of literature, the arts and film, and places a strong emphasis on cross-cultural approaches.
The Centre publishes the annual journal Cross-Cultural Studies Review, provides logistics for teaching Korean Studies in South-Eastern Europe (with the long-term goal of including other East-Asian Study Programmes), and organizes a biannual conference on cross-cultural topics.
The Centre seeks to problematize paradigmatic issues of the humanities and their dis/connection with science and the fine arts. As part of its commitment to multidisciplinary approaches, the Centre supports various outreach programs such as festivals, concerts, and workshops which accompany its scholarly engagements.
At the heart of the Centre’s philosophical orientation, it seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the contemporary "world dis/order," including, but not limited to, the global North-South, ecocriticism, Euro-Asian topics, and inter-religious and multi-ideological issues in the comparative and multi-disciplinary context of the humanities and the arts. This relates to the idea of how discussions of Eurocentrism initiate change when the fields of academic discourse are altered.
Another goal of the Centre is to explore and develop the cross-fertilization of the humanities and the arts with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) regarding ethical concerns as well as forging a better understanding of ideas and issues of world historical, cross-cultural, ecological and scientific change at a large scale. In addition, the humanities have a role in influencing science in the areas of sustainability and the hegemonic dis/order of the current "state of affairs." In this respect, the Centre fosters an exchange of ideas and art practices, simultaneously promoting dialogue and strengthening ties between scholars and artists working on the cross-cultural research of the Balkans, Mediterranean basin and Korean peninsula.