This workshop examines how Catholic and Protestant believers have promoted human dignity through ethical engagement and contributed to social transformation in East Asia and the Pacific.

The four presentations explore different forms of religious action across historical and transnational contexts: Catholic responses to persecution in late Chosŏn Korea, An Chunggŭn’s ethical vision of peace in East Asia, Korean Christian educational initiatives in territorial Hawai‘i, and postwar Catholic solidarity between Korea and Japan.

Taken together, the presentations seek to illuminate how religious actors have responded to persecution, colonialism, nationalism, migration, and political conflict through practices of witness, education, peace-building, human rights advocacy, and transnational solidarity. The workshop also considers the complex relationship between religious conviction and social action, particularly the ways in which Christian ideas of human dignity, brotherhood, peace, and solidarity have been translated into concrete forms of public engagement.

2:00-2:10 | Opening Remarks | Matthew McMullen

2:10-2: 45 | Presentation 1 |  Meng-Heng Lee

2:45-3:20 | Presentation 2 | Jieun Han

3:20-3:35 | Coffee Break | 

3:35-4:10 | Presentation 3 |  Jisoo Hyun

4:10-4:45 | Presentation 4 | Youngkyun Choi

4:45-5:15 | Disscussion | Comments from Miyoshi Chiharu and Open Discussion

5:15-5:20 | Closing Remarks | Matthew McMullen

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