The joint conference “Establishment and Development of Confucian Academies in East Asia and Universities in Europe” organized by the Institute of Korean Studies at Freie Universität Berlin and the Korean Culture Research Center at Yeungnam University brought together leading Korean and European specialists in the field of the history of pre-modern intellectual institutions.

The purpose of the conference was to open new interdisciplinary venues on the topic of knowledge transfer and structural analogies in the history of East Asian and European academia. Altogether 13 presentations analyzed cultural, philosophical, economical, and sociological aspects of Confucian academies both in the countries of East Asia (Korea, China, Vietnam, Japan) and analogous institutions active in medieval and early modern Europe, especially in Germany and France.

The conference provided an opportunity to share research results of the Korean Studies and the Collaborative Research Center 980 (“Episteme in Motion. Transfer of Knowledge From The Ancient World To The Early Modern Period”) at Freie Universität Berlin with leading Korean specialists in the area of Confucian academies. It also secured a foundation for further cooperation and publication projects both in Korean and in Europe, involving scholars from all related institutions. The workshop is a successful continuation of the academic debate related to the place of Confucian academies not only in East Asian history, but in global intellectual history. In this sense, the conference provided a very apt academic reflection of the recent trends in the area, including the 2019 UNESCO status for Korean Confucian academies.