Stony Brook University Faculty of Sciences and Humanities

Larissa Sansour, a Palestinian filmmaker and artist, explores the lives of Palestinians under colonization in her thought-provoking short films. This study reinterprets her work as a critique of post-apocalyptic human communities in an era marked by widespread disasters. The Palestinian experience mirrors the lasting legacies of post-colonial geopolitics, raising questions about memory and community amid profound loss. Drawing parallels with the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Sansour’s films transcend geopolitical boundaries, offering cross-cultural explorations of memory and community. Examining Sansour’s four key films, this study analyzes evolving character psychology and its resonance with critical discourses following the Fukushima disaster. Sansour’s cinematic narratives and Japanese social critiques emphasize the importance of embracing diverse memories and perspectives in community building. Building on philosophical works, particularly Edith Wyschogrod’s, this study explores the concept of an unavowable community implicit in Sansour’s films as a potential alternative to traditional community models. For more details, you can read the full paper HERE.

  Linda Kim, professor of FIT, was named “Artist of the Year 2024” at the 2024 International Fashion Art Biennale. The theme of this year’s biennale was In Harmony with Nature: A Journey of Sustainable Fashion Art. Out of 77 fashion artists, representing 12 countries, Professor Kim was recognized for her exceptional contribution to sustainable fashion.  The 2024 International Fashion Art Biennale, hosted by The Korea Fashion & Culture Association, was held from September 11th to September 19th at the Oil Tank Culture Park, Culture Complex. The exhibition features thought-provoking sub-themes of Contemplation, Coexistence, and Embrace. The garments on display reflected extraordinary creativity and craftsmanship, offering a unique perspective on sustainable fashion.  Additionally, The Korea Fashion & Culture Association marked its 30th anniversary, having started with the first Gwangju Biennale in 1995.    

This article explores the life and art of Lanhei Kim Park(1902~1996), a pioneering female Western-style painter alongside Na Haesuck(1896~1948) and Paik Namsoon(1904~1994). Her multiple diasporic journeys through Manchuria, Japan, and America shaped her fluid identity and habitus as an Oriental in a multiracial American society. Her 1930s oeuvre holds historical significance within the context of Japanese imperial expansion and America’s rising global influence. Born in Pyongyang in 1902, Lanhei Kim’s diverse diasporic experiences in Manchuria and Japan preceded her arrival in America in 1928. Immersing herself in fine art at UCLA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Academy of Design in New York, she laid the foundation for her artistic career. Lanhei Kim navigated Chinatowns and Little Tokyos in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and New York, absorbing popular culture from Hollywood films to the Chicago World’s Fair(1933~1934), which reinforced her racial identity. Her 1930s prints and portraits fused Asian spirit with American cultural elements, resonating with Regionalism. Despite being a colonized subject in America, Lanhei Kim overcame ‘double colonialism’ to craft a unique narrative transcending ethnic and racial boundaries. This study challenges the Korea-centered paradigm of Korean art history by examining the understudied Korean diaspora in America, contributing to a transnational understanding of twentieth-century Korean art. For more details, you can read the full paper HERE.

  Professor Mengyang Jia recently presented her paper titled “现代汉语否定词‘没’的否定中心” ( The Focus of the Negation in Modern Chinese Negative Word 'méi' ) at The 30th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL). The International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL) is a professional organization devoted to the promotion of scientific research on Chinese languages and their dialects. Incorporated in California, it is a 501-(c)-3 non-profit organization approved by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. IACL serves as a critical platform for global scholars to engage in Chinese linguistics research and academic exchange. For more information, visit IACL Website.

Embodied Intermediality: A Theoretical Investigation with an Analysis of < All the Vermeers in New York > 체현적 상호매체성: 이론적 고찰과 <뉴욕의 모든 베르미어들>(1990) 분석   [Abstract] This study examines the signification effects of intermediality from the perspective of users’ sensory and cognitive responses. Intermediality integrates heterogeneous media to create unique sensory and semantic effects. However, how users perceive the intention of intermedial artifacts and appreciate their meaning requires extensive discussion. This research identifies that the meaning effects of intermediality occur in users’ abilities to express narratives and utilize cognitive schemata. Firstly, it reviews the concept of intermedial narrativity proposed by media scholar Lars Ellestrom. According to Ellestrom, media users project a narrative interpretation onto given images, even if the object is a static medium like painting, perceiving them as a sequence of events. This ability for narrative expression applies similarly in situations where painting and film coexist. Consequently, users discern comprehensive narrative events in the coexistence of the two media. Secondly, the study determines that users’ ability to distinguish core narratives from multiple narratives that intermedial artifacts can possess is achievable through the utilization of cognitive schemata. Users interpret sensory stimuli from intermedial situations simultaneously to grasp consistent meanings. This process involves users projecting schemata acquired through subjective experiences and learning onto given intermedial stimuli to generate meaning. This research argues that intermediality manifests its ultimate meaning in users’ sensory, cognitive, and interpretative judgments, defining such phenomenon as embodied intermediality. Finally, the study analyzes John Jost’s film < All the Vermeeers in New York >(1990) to examine how various media within the work are attributed to personal meanings within dramatic situations. For more details, you can read the full paper HERE.

    Professor Seohwan Yoo participated in the 2024 Pan-Pacific Business Research Conference (PPBRC), where he presented his paper titled "Forming an Interface between Business Owners and Service Users using an Artificial Intelligence Learning Model." In his presentation, Prof. Yoo discussed the role of generative AI in enhancing business operations and creating efficient, user-friendly interfaces for small and medium-sized businesses. The paper highlights the impact of emerging AI technologies on business consumers and explores how generative AI can transform business-consumer interactions. Prof. Yoo emphasized the importance of developing AI-driven software that balances efficiency with user convenience, particularly as AI moves from conversational models to multimodal systems, including video and audio. The research also addresses how statistical analysis and business trends can shape the future of service design.

  Professor Cristiano Galeazzi co-authored a paper titled "Morphodynamics and Depositional Architecture of Mid-Channel Bars in Large Amazonian Rivers", which explores the complex dynamics of multi-channel rivers, specifically focusing on mid-channel bars in the Solimões–Amazonas River. The study uses a combination of satellite imagery, multibeam echosounding, seismic surveys, and field observations to analyze how these bars evolve over time, becoming shallower as channel bifurcation reduces transport capacity. The research introduces new depositional models that can aid in recognizing similar river deposits in the ancient rock record, shedding light on the sediment transport processes of large rivers and their implications for interpreting ancient fluvial environments. For more details, you can read the full paper here.

Professor Sun Park published a book "Camera Somatica" and the book was selected as an Excellent Academic Book by the National Academic of Science Republic of Korea. Abstract The book Camera Somatica: Painting and Cinema in a Post-Cinematic Age talks about how movies, which are a kind of copying technology, are still important even though they challenge traditional paintings in the modern age of cinema. It explores how movies connect paintings with today's media consumers. In the past, people just watched movies without participating much, but now, in the post-cinema era, the audience becomes more involved. They not only watch but also interact with the content, actively shaping its flow and changing its sequence. People use their whole bodies, not just their eyes, to engage with the movie's reality. Nowadays, we experience virtual images with our bodies and senses, blending them with our real-life experiences. The book calls this experience of embodying replicated images "camera somatica," using the word "soma" that means "body" in English. The book looks at how movies that include elements of paintings can be understood from the perspective of an engaged audience. It explores how original paintings may change when they are turned into films, with characters speaking and moving, like in the movies The Mill and the Cross (2011) and Shirley: Visions of Reality (2013). It also questions whether painters can transform from being seen as artistic geniuses to becoming social communicators in movies like Yumeji (1991). Additionally, the book raises questions about the meaning and intentions behind ancient cave paintings represented by Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) and how museums can show different aspects when they target visitors, not just the exhibitions themselves, as seen in movies like Museum Hours (2012), Francofonia (2015), and National Gallery (2014). The movies discussed in Camera Somatica challenge our usual understanding of paintings, artists, and how they are exhibited. They create independent worlds beyond the painter's control. The book shows how painters listen to unintended subjects in their paintings and question who the true subject of their artwork is. Viewers complete the meaning of the paintings themselves, ignoring traditional critiques and even the painter's intentions. Camera Somatica aims to explore new meanings in how artworks are created, appreciated, and exhibited, using the lens of cinema.

"Cautiously Optimistic" T-Shirt Design Contest and Exhibition The FSH (Faculty of Sciences and Humanities) at our school holds the "Cautiously Optimistic" T-Shirt Design Contest and Exhibition. This event uses art, textiles, and creative thinking to look at modern problems and develop an artistic response through t-shirt design. We invite you to participate and develop your creative skills while gaining feedback from Textile Professor Linda Kim and Art Professor Rachel Stuckey. Selected designs will be displayed in the exhibition from May 19-26, and the SUNY Korea community will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite design. Selected participants will receive a t-shirt with their design after the exhibition. We encourage you to participate and express your creative vision. The deadline for submitting your application is March 31, 2023. *Application Link: Click here For those who apply, details regarding how to prepare and submit your design will be provided after the application due date. After the application, there will be a seminar and workshop to develop your design and the exhibition will take place in May. We look forward to your participation and seeing your creative designs at the exhibition.

Professor Donald C. Bellomy participated as a keynote speaker for the Global HR Conference The NHI held the '2022 Global Public HR Conference' in parallel, both online and offline. HR experts in and outside of Korea, including those from international organizations, governments, public organizations, and universities, participated in the conference.   Professor Bellomy offered a presentation about The Looming Post-Covid Confrontation with History: From Frying-Pan to Fire? As the global Covid crisis that necessarily shaped a significant share of the recent challenges and goals of public administration and public human resources management finally begins to fade, one likely result will be to renew and extend the profession’s confrontations with history. These confrontations will in all probability center on five lingering issues that have demarcated, sustained, and at times constrained public administration. The five issues emerged in roughly the following historical sequence: 1) the association of civil service with the immediate needs and policy choices of central governmental power; 2) the relation of public administration to democratization; 3) the professionalization of the civil service in terms of meritocracy; 4) the built-in tension between the “public” and individualism as the two concepts see-sawed in their ascendancy within the popular consciousness; 5) the growing impact of identity politics since the 1960s.   * For more information in detail, Click here * Watch the full video on YouTube: (ENG)Click here /(KOR) Click here

Professor Linda Kim’s Work Displayed at 2021 International Fashion Art Exhibition in Jeju “Flower Warrior of Camillia Island”, FIT Professor Linda Kim’s fashion work, will be displayed in the 2021 International Fashion Art Exhibition in Jeju, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. A total number of 81 fashion designers from 8 countries, and 8 potters, are participating in this exhibition, which takes place on the 1st floor of the Obaekjanggun Gallery of Jeju Stone Park.  (2021.07.15 – 2021.08.15) The theme of the exhibition covers “Local- Rising Jeju,” which deals with the sub- themes: earth, myth, and heritage. *Online Exhibition: YouTube: Click here / Instagram: Click here  

[What To Do During COVID-19?] Three Recommendations by Professor Rachel Stuckey  “Toys are not really as innocent as they look. Toys and games are the prelude to serious ideas” – from “Power of Tens”  Are you looking for meaningful ways to spend time while COVID-19 is ongoing? Professor Rachel Stuckey shared three of her favorite recommendations for all of you. *To watch the YouTube video: Click here

A special lecture on “Vision” by Professor Terence Oliga Forty students and two teachers from Incheon Songdo High School and forty seven students from Incheon Wondang High school visited SUNY Korea. Provided for the visitors was a SUNY Korea Information Session and a Campus Tour. Also, a special lecture on “Vision” by professor Terence Oliga was given to the students from Incheon Wondang High School. We sincerely hope the visit to SUNY Korea provided insight and motivation to the high school students.     

SUNY Korea is introduced in Incheon International City Brand Forum SUNY Korea was introduced as the first American university to provide a U.S. degree in Korea during the 2020 Incheon International City Brand Forum. Lived Streamed on YouTube, the forum was organized to promote Incheon’s history, culture, and direction of city development with the dream of becoming a global city. Professor Rachel Ewing along with other faculty and students took part in the interview session and shared their opinions on the prospects of the city.   *SUNY Korea in Incheon International City Brand Forum: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Aj062bq8zc7BFeNdaxBzwsCjkhGtWG6p/view?usp=sharing    *Forum Introduction (to watch the full video instructed in Korean): https://blog.naver.com/incheontogi/222131169754  

  Professor Linda Kim Participates in 2020 K-Culture Festival X 2020 International Fashion Art Biennale in Seoul   Professor Linda Kim participates in 2020 K-Culture Festival X 2020 International Fashion Art Biennale in Seoul hosted by K-Culture Festival and The Korea Fashion & Culture Association under the theme of ‘2020: The Moment’. [Sub-themes] Memory: Process of completing Korean beauty Moment: Establishment of K-Fashion’s identity and suggestion of change dreaM: Setting direction of future fashion art in the changing era of COVID-19 Check out the video that shows the fashion works designed by professor Linda Kim and professor Deborah Won (FIT) in the online 2020 Fashion Art Biennale in Seoul.   Watch full video: https://youtu.be/VvNGqks0oN8