Have you enjoyed watching the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea? Here is another fantastic opportunity for you to enjoy knowing more about Korean culture! The UPEI Faculty of Arts, Asian Studies Program, and its Korean Studies Project are pleased to announce the following special public talk by the first invited speaker of our new Asian Studies International Seminar and Korean Studies Speaker Series: Professor Don L. Baker from the Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, will deliver a presentation called “From the Mountains into the Cities: The Transformation of Korean Buddhism in the Twentieth Century” on March 8 from 2:30 to 3:45 pm in the Faculty Lounge (Room 201), SDU Main Building (storm date: Friday, March 9 from 2:30 to 3:45 pm in Room 213 of SDU Main Building). As the first of our international seminar and speaker series, this is a wonderful lecture topic for understanding the religious-cultural transformation of Buddhism in modern Korea under the influence of Japan, changing Korean values, Christianity, and Western ideas. Everyone is invited! --- Dr. Don L. Baker is a renowned scholar in the area of East Asian History, especially Korea’s religious, intellectual and cultural history. He joined UBC in 1987 as its first professor of Korean Studies (KS) and was entrusted with the task of building a Korean Studies program. Under his leadership, it has become the best KS program (with BA, MA and PhD streams) in Canada and one of the premier KS programs in the world. For many years, Don also served as Director of UBC’s Centre for Korean Research. He has authored, edited, co-edited, or translated eight scholarly books since 1996. His Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, vol. II and Korean Spirituality are accepted as two popular textbooks in Korean history or religion courses and frequently cited by scholars and students. He recently published a monograph: Catholics and Anti-Catholicism in Chosŏn Korea (University of Hawaii Press, 2017). Special acknowledgement: This international seminar and speaker series project is supported by an international Seed Program for Korean Studies grant (AKS-2017-INC-2230001) through the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea and Korean Studies Promotion Service (KSPS), the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS).