Editor’s Note: The attribution of Han Kang’s name and the attribution of the final quote of the story have been updated. 

In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Korea Update gave students a front row seat to the Nobel prize winning writings of the Han Kang in Coleman Hall on Wednesday.  

This was made possible by the faculty and students who read excerpts from Han’s work.  

Han’s writings are infused with her South Korean heritage, books such as “The Vegetarian” published in 2007 and “The White Book” published in 2016. Both were featured at this event, giving students background on the interior meanings of the South Korean writer.  

The event started off with an introduction of Hanand her Nobel Prize award-winning books, read by different students. English translations were read-aloud for students who didn’t speak the language fluently.  

EIU history professor Jinhee Lee introduced this event.  

“In celebration of the kickoff of AAPI Heritage month, we will be reviewing some of Han Kang’s Nobel Prize winning publications, which will be read by some of our English faculty here at EIU and some of our students,” Lee said.   

After a thorough introduction to AAPI and Han’s Illustrations, the audience was then informed on Han’s work in the celebratory context, following one of her major accomplishments.  

Han was the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Literature Prize, doing so in 2024.  

Following the mention of Han’s work, along with her accomplishments, Zavi Kang Eagles, a speaker from the University of Southern California joined the event via zoom, to share some themes that she noticed throughout the readings. 

“Themes throughout the book “Human Acts” written by [Han] Kang represented subject matters pertaining to the brutal realities faced by individuals in south Korea, following a tragic event,” Eagles said.  

Lee felt extreme warmth and gratitude that not only was she able to learn about these pieces of literature, but she was also able to commemorate them in her mother tongue of Korean with those of the AAPI community here on campus.  

“Given my background, I feel very touched to be able to share this beautiful milestone with the AAPI community here on campus,” Lee said.  

A Q&A was held after the event, allowing audience members to ask any clarifying questions. During the dialogical departure from Han’s milestones, eventgoers were able to come up to the panel and even look at the books.   

“The Q&A followed the discussion of the readings, which gave the audience insight on how much connection there is between [Han] Kang’s Interests and things such as human behavior and even political issues with South Korea,” Lee said.  

Given the faculty who attended the AAPI Kickoff, both history and non-history, were in roles that allowed them to feel closer with their professional careers here at Eastern.  

Political science professor Jin Hong Kim said she tries to pay extra attention to current events to make the class environment more immersive.

“When it comes to teaching, I pay a lot of attention to current culture and current events, to make a class environment more immersive so that students not only learn the material but can become connected with it in the process,” Kim said. “When I first started teaching, it was little difficult to establish authority within the classroom, so making sure that I’m not only putting my best foot forward but also assuring my students that there’s always something you can relate to helped me drastically.” 

Tyrone Naylor can be reached at 581-2812 or tnaylor@eiu.edu.