Keimyung-Thursday Philosophy Institute, which has been offering humanities lectures for Daegu citizens with the goal of "popularizing philosophy and philosophizing the public," will host the "Thursday Philosophy Humanities Forum" in the first half of 2025. The forum will be held every Thursday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM for a total of 11 sessions, from March 13 to June 5, at the Kim Manyong and Park Sunyeon Hall of Beomeo Library in Suseong District, Daegu.
This forum is organized under the theme "Diagnosing Civilization in the Age of the Anthropocene through the Lens of the Humanities." Anyone in the local community can attend, and registration is available either on the Beomeo Library website or on-site on the day of the event. In addition to the in-person lectures, the forum will also be streamed live online via the YouTube channel MokcheolTV.
The first forum will feature Park Hansun, Professor of Anthropology at Seoul National University, on the topic "The Origin of Humanity." Subsequent weekly lectures will include: "The Birth of Civilization" (Oh Jungyun, Professor at Seoul Citizen University), "Stories of Pharaohs: Egyptian History and Relics" (Jung Gyuyoung, Professor of Arabic at Chosun University), "Mesopotamian Civilization: A History of Challenges and Choices" (Yoon Seongdeok, Professor at Yonsei University’s Institute for the Study of Korean Christian Culture), "Seeking the Path of Humanities in the Indus Civilization" (Lee Kwangsoo, Professor Emeritus of Indian Studies at Busan University of Foreign Studies), "Reading Chinese Civilization through Keywords: Culturalism, Modes of Thought, and the Continuity of Civilization" (Jeon Ingap, Professor of History at Sogang University), "Rediscovering Anatolian Civilization as the Origin of Human Civilization" (Lee Heesu, Professor Emeritus of Cultural Anthropology at Hanyang University), "Hebraism: Opening a New Horizon for Religion" (Jung Kimoon, Professor of History at Kunsan National University), "Hellenism: The Universal Globalization of Greek Civilization" (Park Jaewook, Professor of History at Chungnam National University), "To Crete, the Cradle of Greek Civilization" (Kim Heon, Professor at Seoul National University Institute of Humanities), and "The Roman Empire and Christianity: Rejection, Alliance, and the Beginning of European Civilization" (Lim Seunghwi, Professor of History at Sunmoon University).
Keimyung-Thursday Philosophy Institute has been continuously striving for the past 45 years to communicate with citizens through a passion for the humanities, and is now approaching its 900th lecture. Numerous renowned scholars from Korea and abroad, as well as artists, religious leaders, and politicians, have given lectures, raising Daegu’s profile nationwide. Past lectures from the highly acclaimed "Thursday Philosophy Humanities Forum," praised as the "monument of our era," can be viewed on the Keimyung-Thursday Philosophy Institute website.
Meanwhile, the "Thursday Philosophy Humanities Forum" began in October 1980 as the "Thursday Philosophy Seminar" in the Department of Philosophy at Keimyung University. In 2011, with the motto "popularizing philosophy and philosophizing the public," the affiliated "Keimyung-Thursday Philosophy Institute" was established, expanding its scope and renaming the seminar to the "Thursday Philosophy Humanities Forum." The philosophy lectures have since been diversified into the "Thursday Philosophy Humanities Forum," the "Thursday Philosophy Colloquium," and the "Philosophy Humanities Class" for youth, providing a broad range of humanities education.
Lee Jaesung, Director of the Keimyung-Thursday Philosophy Institute, stated, "We will continue to share the achievements of 45 years of humanities lectures and work even harder to create an era where all members of the local community can be happy."
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