Lecture
LUCIP Colloquium "Learning from Modern Korean Donghak: From Ecological Crisis to Social Transformation and Planetary Flourishing"
- Date
- Wednesday 14 October 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Herta Mohr
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- 0.16
The Leiden University Centre of Intercultural Philosophy is pleased to announce a lecture by Dr. Jea Sophia Oh, professor of Philosophy at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Abstract
This lecture explores Donghak 東學 (Eastern Learning), a nineteenth-century Korean religious-philosophical movement, as a vital resource for responding to contemporary ecological and social crises. Donghak’s vision of “bearing Heaven” (sicheonju 侍天主) and reverence for Heaven, humans, and all beings (samgyeong 三敬) challenges hierarchical divisions between the sacred and material, humanity and nature, and self and world. Bringing these ideas into conversation with salim, the Korean practice of enlivening, sustaining, and restoring life, the lecture asks what Donghak can teach us about social transformation and ecological responsibility today. It proposes a Korean spiritual ecology grounded in reverence, relationality, and shared flourishing, offering Donghak not simply as a historical tradition but as a living resource for imagining planetary futures.
About
Dr. Jea Sophia Oh is Professor of Philosophy at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Asian and comparative philosophy, environmental ethics, and feminist and decolonial theory. Her first monograph, A Postcolonial Theology of Life: Planetarity East and West (2011), pioneered Korean ecofeminist theology by bringing Alfred North Whitehead’s process thought into conversation with Donghak (東學, Eastern Learning), an indigenous Korean philosophy. Her forthcoming book, Korean Goddesses and Cultural Narratives: Salim Thealogical Hermeneutics for Planetary Care (Bloomsbury, 2027), further develops her comparative ecofeminist work through salim, Korean goddess narratives, and planetary care. She currently serves as President-Elect of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (SACP).
All are welcome!