Still Present Pasts

STILL PRESENT PASTS embodies life stories from the Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project, directed by Ramsay Liem, professor of psychology at Boston College.

Motivated by the personal quest of several younger Korean-Americans to acquire a deeper understanding of their families’ experiences during the Korean War, the Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project currently has three dozen oral histories from three generations of Korean-Americans living in the greater Boston and San Francisco Bay areas.

These stories are among the first public remembrances by Korean-Americans of the devastation wrought by this horrific civil and international conflict. They also reveal multiple legacies of the war that influence individual, family and community life in the past and present. These oral histories provide a counterpoint to the invisibility of the Korean War in public consciousness and the U.S. historical record.

Still Present Pasts is the result of two years of collaboration among artists Yul-san Liem, Injoo Whang, and Ji-Young Yoo; documentary filmmaker Deann Borshay and historian Ji-Yeon Yuh.

Ramsay Liem, professor of psychology at Boston College, directs The Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project.

Still Present Pasts is presented by the University of Minnesota Institute for Advanced Study in partnership with Intermedia Arts, Korean Quarterly, and the Minnesota Still Present Pasts Steering Committee.