Korean Studies Research Institute: Sensing Korea - Reframing Korean Studies in the Nordic Countries

Sensing Korea develops sensory and narrative approaches to explore the diversity of Korean experiences beyond essentializing representations, while strengthening Korean Studies in the Nordic region through research, training, exchange, and collaboration.

Sensing Korea brings together research, training, and international collaboration to rethink how Korea and Koreanness are studied and experienced. The project is based at the Korean Studies Research Institute at the University of Copenhagen and connects scholars and students across the Nordic-Baltic region, Korea, and beyond. Rather than asking what Korea essentially is, Sensing Korea explores how Korea is experienced, narrated, sensed, and continuously reimagined.

Project information

Principal Investigator (PI)

Project period

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Organisation

Korean Studies Research Institute: Sensing Korea - Reframing Korean Studies in the Nordic Countries is part of: Asia Studies

Research focus

Sensing Korea explores how Korea is experienced, narrated, and understood through the senses. Building on sensory and narrative approaches, the project examines diverse experiences of Korea through sound, language, text, memory, visual culture, material practices, and other sensory dimensions. Rather than treating “Korea” or “Koreanness” as fixed categories, the project asks how they are constructed, negotiated, and experienced in different historical, social, and transnational contexts. In doing so, Sensing Korea develops new methodological perspectives within Korean Studies. 

Sensing Korea continues the work of the Tempting Tunes project.

Sensing Korea brings together researchers and students across the Nordic and Baltic region, Korea, and other parts of Europe. Building on established Nordic-Baltic collaboration in Korean Studies, the project organizes research conferences for MA and PhD students and supports participation through travel scholarships. 

Key collaborators include Sonja Häussler (Stockholm University), Vladimir Tikhonov (University of Oslo), Sabine Burghart (University of Turku), and Andrew Logie (University of Helsinki), who contribute to the Nordic-Baltic research network and graduate conferences. Felix Siegmund (Ruhr University Bochum) and Johann Noh (Korea University) collaborate on the development of teaching materials for Literary Sinitic (hanmun). Jørn Borup (Aarhus University) contributes to outreach and the publication of Oplev Korea.  

The project also develops the Korean Studies Online Events Database, which connects scholars with academic events and supports international exchange and collaboration. 

Sensing Korea strengthens the research environment for Korean Studies in the Nordic region by creating opportunities for early-career researchers. The project funds two three-year PhD positions at the University of Copenhagen and supports their development through supervision, seminars, workshops, conferences, and international networks.

Activities also include Nordic research conferences for MA and PhD students, international workshops and conferences, and the development of teaching materials combining reading with practices such as recitation and calligraphy to engage with Korean written culture before 1900.

A major public-outreach initiative is Oplev Korea (Experience Korea), a Danish-language book written by Korean Studies specialists for a broader audience in collaboration with Forlaget Univers. The project will also produce journal articles and an edited volume on Sensing Korea.
 

23 Sept. 2026, 9:00-10:20
Between “I Wrote” and “He Replied”: The Making of Brush Talk in Chosŏn–Qing Encounters
Lecture by Ivana Gubić (University of Zagreb)

Fully funded PhD position in Korean Studies 

Application deadline: 01-11-2026

Employment start: 01-02-2027

See the job posting for the PhD position.

Sensing Korea has been granted a five-year funding by the Core University Program for Korean Studies of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service at the Academy of Korean Studies.
 

Project number: AKS-2026-OLU-2250001.
Funding amount: Approx. DKK 5.6 million 

Researchers

External

Name
Title
Contact info

Affiliated students

Name
Title
Area
  • Bryde, Katrine Østergård
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Budde, Julie Munk
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Hansen, Cecilie Sofie Groth
    MA student
    Asian Studies/Korea, Literary Chinese
  • Hansen, Lucas Pierre
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Kaczmarek, Amelia
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Kristensen, Elizabeth
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Kronby Nørgaard, Augusta Klarafin
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Lessel, Mie
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Mellerkær, Emilie Bech
    BA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Schwaner, Marie Sung Hee
    MA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese
  • Túni, Isabel Í
    MA student
    Korean Studies, Literary Chinese