Announcement
2015 Spring KSEA Monthly Multidisciplinary Seminar Speaker Yooinn Hong, a Ph.D. candidate at Department of Geography at the Pennsylvania State University will present her research on “Orange-growers don’t eat oranges for dinner: dynamic history and geography of agro-biodiversity at Woo Yeong, Jeju’s home garden” on Thursday, April 30th, at 7 PM at Walker room 319. Food and drinks will be served. All are welcome.
Title
Orange-growers don’t eat oranges for dinner: dynamic history and geography of agro-biodiversity at Woo Yeong, Jeju’s home garden
Abstract
To visitors, immediately recognizable farms cape of Jeju Island is that of citrus that have been commercially exported to mainland Korea from 1970s. But there is another, behind-the-wall landscape in this island that has made up the citrus farmers’ everyday meal table from much older time, that is, home gardens. In home gardens, known as Woo Yeong locally, farmers grow vegetables and other crops to complement rice-based diet, and have predominantly subsistence orientation. This has alleviated the gardens from pressure to grow improved varieties that heavily dominate “big field” agriculture and thus allows more room for old crops and varieties to persist, which makes the gardens a curious, but understudied sites of high agro-biodiversity.
More About Yooinn Hong
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Geography
The Pennsylvania State University
Profile
Yooinn Hong is a Ph.D. candidate at Department of Geography at Penn State. Her interests include, but are not limited to, agro-biodiversity, biodiversity, conservation, smallholder livelihoods, and environmental governance. Her study questions generally investigate relationship between agricultural production and (agro)-biodiversity conservation. East Asia has been her main geographical area of interest. She has earned a B.A in political science(in international relations) in Seoul National University and an M.A. in geography in the same institution.