The 2021 Korea-Europe Lecture Series

In the last decade, South Korea’s popular culture, the Korean Wave, has become an international phenomenon going beyond its earlier boundaries of Asia. Observing this, the academia has responded to the global penetration of the Korean Wave with cautious but growing interests. Nonetheless, studies and discussions on the Korean Wave have predominantly concentrated on Asia and North America so far, but research on Europe is still rare despite increasing interests in and recognition of the Korean Wave in this region. Considering this gap, we offer series of lectures on the Korean Wave as an intercultural and interdisciplinary platform for dialogue in Europe. The first series of the dialogue focuses on K-Pop fans in Europe, especially fan characteristic, fandom, and fan activism and participation – through which one can discover and discuss othernization and mainstreaming of the Korean Wave in different European countries.