Button Menu

Prof. Derek Ford to Present Wednesday Talk at Syracuse U

Prof. Derek Ford to Present Wednesday Talk at Syracuse U

November 18, 2019

Derek R. Ford, assistant professor of education studies at DePauw University, will speak at Syracuse University on Wednesday, November 20. His talk, "North Koreans in Japan: Identity, Education, and the Struggle Against Colonialism," will take place at noon in Maxwell Hall.

"There are around 800,000 Koreans living in Japan today who are foreign nationals or 'special permanent residents,'" notes a synopsis. "Even though they’ve resided in Japan since before the Korean peninsula was divided and can now acquire Japanese citizenship, most today are citizens of either North or South Korea. Their situation, largely unknown in the West, provides a crucial lens through which to understand the myriad aspects of Korean conflict as the result of an unfinished struggle for national liberation. In this presentation, Dr. Ford details the history and present of Koreans in Japan through the development of Chongryon (The National Association of Korean Residents in Japan), a North Korean-affiliated institution that maintains dozens of schools, neighborhood associations, sports teams, professional and cultural organizations, and more."

Learn more here.

Professor Ford, who leads the only exchange program between U.S. and Chongryon students, is the editor of Keywords in Radical Philosophy: Education Common Concepts for Contemporary Movements and assistant editor of the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (JCEPS). His book Politics and Pedagogy in the “Post-Truth” Era was  published by Bloomsbury. He previously authored Education and the Production of Space: Political Pedagogy, Geography, and Urban Revolution and Communist Study: Education for the Commons in Studies in Philosophy and Education. He is an educational theorist who teaches classes in philosophy and history of education.

Back