EALC Graduation and Honors Ceremony

Thank you to everyone who joined us on April 22nd to celebrate the accomplishments of our amazing students! More photos will be posted soon on our Facebook page!

Korean Language Contest

We are delighted to share that Sydney Moroney, a student in KOR 108, received third prize at the Beginning level of the 2026 Midwest Korean Speech Contest, held on Saturday, April 4 in Chicago. This year’s contest brought together 40 students from 19 Midwestern colleges, competing across the Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.

KU is was also proudly represented by Jessi Stillman (KOR 208) and Brooke Reinecke (KOR 598), both of whom delivered strong and engaging speeches in Korean. We extend our sincere thanks to the KU Korean language instructors for their dedicated coaching and support of the students. We are also deeply grateful to Quin Dotzert, EALC MA student and KOR GTA,  for his remarkable generosity in driving the students to and from Chicago. Congratulations to all of our students for representing KU so wonderfully!

Japanese Language Contest

We are pleased to report the successful hosting of the 28th Annual Heartland Japanese Language Contest at the University of Kansas. The contest welcomed 122 contestants from several universities across Kansas and Missouri, including 23 KU students. Participants competed in a wide range of events, including: 

1. Digital submissions, such as calligraphy (うま、馬、and 大志), English and Japanese tanka, and speeches; 
2. Online Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Practice Quizzes (levels N5–N3); and 
3. Kana and kanji karuta competitions. 

The in-person event, held on Saturday, March 28, drew more than 100 attendees, including contestants, audience members, performers, and table hosts. 

KU students earned 16 of the 43 total awards, demonstrating particularly strong performances in upper-level language competitions and speech categories. Two KU students—Alexander Figueroa-Castro (Category 1: first-year level) and Aaron Moorman (Category 3: third-year level and above)—each won first place in their respective categories. Their winning speeches, delivered in front of the audience, were both impressive and inspiring. 

Congratulations to all KU winners, some of whom received multiple awards: Dalton Crouch, Alexander Figueroa-Castro, Thomas Ginder, Kate Kirby, Aaron Moorman, Vu Nguyen, Seth Weeks, Chi Tran, and Sherry Thomas. 

The contest provided a meaningful opportunity to connect Japanese language learners and instructors from regional institutions, encouraging continued efforts in Japanese language study and fostering a shared celebration of Japanese culture. We extend our sincere thanks to the Japanese instructors and students, cultural activity and performance providers, vendors, sponsors, and all participants whose contributions made this event a success. We warmly congratulate all the winners on their outstanding achievements. 

EALC Graduating Seniors & Award Ceremony

Thank you to everyone who attended the EALC Graduating Seniors & Award Recipients Ceremony on April 23rd. It was such a joy to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of our students and faculty. A special thank you to Dr. Jill Kleinberg for presenting the Jill Kleinberg Scholarship, a scholarship that supports students studying or interning in East Asia. You can see more photos on our Facebook page.

John Dardess Research Forum

On April 18th EALC graduate students and faculty participated in the John Dardess Research Forum. Nineteen presenters from a variety of different departments at KU shared their current research interests, upcoming publications, Ph. D dissertations, or M.A thesis topics. Dr Keith McMahon moderated. A special thank you to Michiko Ito and Cecilia Zhang for organizing this event! You can view more photos on our Facebook page. 

EALC at the Ninth Annual International Jayhawk Festival

EALC tabled at the International Jayhawk Festival April 16th! It's an opportunity for Jayhawks to celebrate the global community and international engagement with free t-shirts, food, fashion show, performances, activities, and a study abroad fair.  You can see more photos at KU International Affairs Facebook page. 

KU Students Recognized at Midwest Korean Speech Contest

Three KU students participated in the 2025 Midwest Korean Speech Contest, held on April 5 in Chicago, and brought home two 3rd-place awards: Melia Whitney (KOR 108) in the Beginning level and Henri Groves (KOR 564) in the Advanced level. Competing among 40 students from 19 Midwestern colleges, they showcased the strength and dedication of KU’s Korean language program.

In addition, Korean GTA Quin Dotzert won the U.S. preliminary round of Quiz on Korea, a global quiz-show for Korean language learners. Quin will travel to Korea this fall to represent the U.S. in the final round of the show.

Thank you to our students for their hard work and cheerful achievement—we’re so proud of you!

Korea Culture Day at KU

Korea Culture Day was held on Mar 29 2025 at the KU Memorial Union. Students watched performances and cultural demonstrations, tried Korean snacks, and participated in hands-on activities and games. The director of the Korean Cultural Center of LA, Sangwon Jung, and the general manager of King Sejong Institute, Seunghoan Roh, were also in attendance. 

Kyoim Yun, Associate Professor in East Asian Languages and Cultures said, "Mr. Jung, Mr. Roh, and their delegates visited KU last autumn to explore the possibility of holding this event here. That visit was just the beginning. Since then, Mr. Roh and Ji-Yeon have done a tremendous amount of work. You can see the scale of the event and the extent of those efforts in the attached event schedule. All Korean instructors volunteered their time and talents, and many students also volunteered. The LA team was very impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and their strong Korean skills. Both Mr. Jung and Mr. Roh seemed very pleased with the overall success of the event. Mr. Roh told us at dinner that the experience gave him a great deal of hope."

KU students place at the 27th Annual Heartland Japanese Speech Contest

Congratulations to our JPN 564 students Jean Duperon, Kevin Reppar, and Aaron Moorman for placing at the 27th Annual Heartland Japanese Speech Contest! The contest was held at Johnson County Community College on March 8th, 2025. 

Speech: 1st place - Jean Duperon

        2nd place - Kevin Reppar

JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) grammar and vocabulary online quiz N3 level: 1st place - Aaron Moorman

Audience Trivia quiz: 2nd place - Jean Duperon.

The Society for Ming Studies Announces Keith McMahon Geiss Hsu Book Prize Winner

The Society for Ming Studies’ Geiss Hsu Book Prize Selection Committee announced that it has awarded this year’s prize to to Keith McMahon for his book Saying All that Can be Said: The Art of Describing Sex in Jin Ping Mei. 

The committee shared the following statement:

In his magisterial Saying All that Can be Said: The Art of Describing Sex in Jin Ping Mei, senior scholar Keith McMahon brings fresh perspectives to one of Chinese literature’s most read and researched novels. First, drawing on his wide-ranging knowledge of literary and medical works related to sex spanning multiple genres from both earlier and later time periods, McMahon offers a sharper historical contextualization of Jinpingmei than is common and does much to show what is distinctive to the novel. Second, building on decades of research, McMahon insightfully analyzes specific language choices throughout the novel, arguing persuasively that the author of Jinpingmei reveled in linguistic exuberance, both playing with words and expressions, and purposely pushing them in innovative and frequently disruptive directions. Third, and perhaps most crucially, McMahon demonstrates thatJinpingmei’s description of sex varies markedly according to the women’s familial/social status; that is, the novel does not depict sexual activities in a monolithic fashion. Past scholarship has shown that the novel as a whole may be considered an extended and often rambunctiously excoriating commentary on distinction and difference in the late Ming period, ranging from clothing, housing, and furnishings to official rank, social standing, and moral probity. In Saying All that Can be Said, McMahon masterfully demonstrates that the same narrative and linguistic flourishes mark Jinpingmei’s treatment of the most intimate elements of life in Ming China. 

The prize will be awarded at the Society for Ming Studies’ Annual Meeting, which takes place at the Association for Asian Studies’ Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on March 14 from 7 – 9 p.m. in the Morrow Room of the Hyatt Regency Columbus.