Faith in Motion: Visualizing Korean Christianity and New Religious Movements
April 15 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
For non-Columbia affiliates, registration is required to access the Morningside campus. After registering you will receive an email with a QR code that must be presented along with a government-issued ID (your name must match exactly the name registered for the event) at either the 116th Street & Broadway or 116th Street & Amsterdam gates for entry. Please register using a unique email address (one email address per registrant) by Apr. 14 at 4:00 pm for campus access.
Names will be submitted for QR codes 1-2 days prior to the event. Registrants will receive an email from CU Guest Access with the QR code before or on the day of the event.
Speaker: Song-Chong Lee, Professor, Seoul National University, Korea
Moderator: Seong Uk Kim, Associate Professor of Korean Religions and Culture, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, Columbia University
Using images, paintings, and visual representations as analytical lenses, this talk explores two significant yet often overlooked religious movements shaping the landscape of Korean Christianity. The discussion highlights Minjung Theology—a Korean version of liberation theology that played an inspiring role in the country’s democratization and progressive movements—and New Religious Movements (NRMs), which are defying the declining trend of organized religion and disrupting the country’s religious market.
Speaker’s Bio: Song Chong Lee is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Seoul National University, Korea. His scholarly work centers on the intersection between religion and society, with a particular focus on church-state relations, the evolving definition of religion, and new religious movements (NRMs). He is the author of Ham Sok Hon’s Ssial Cosmopolitan Vision (Lexington Books, 2020). Among his recent publications are “Bringing Back the Old Religiosity: Interfaith Cosmopolitan Civil Religion” (Journal of Church and State, Oxford University Press, 2024) and “The Violence of New Religious Movements and the Entrepreneurial Model: With a Focus on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Korea” (The Journal of Religion, the University of Chicago Press, 2023).
This event is hosted by the Center for Korean Research.
Registration: To attend this event in-person, please register HERE.
