Globally grounded Research..

Curtin University New Colombo Plan cohort, closing ceremony at Konkuk University, February 2026.

Institutional Partnerships

  • Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia

    Funding Framework: Australian Government New Colombo Plan (DFAT)


    Status: Partnership Established - First Cohort January/February 2026

    Program: NCP Mobility Program - student internships in Korean cultural research and digital media production

    The New Colombo Plan is the Australian Government's signature initiative supporting undergraduate students to develop Indo-Pacific capability through study and internships across the region. KARSI provides research training placements for Australian students funded through DFAT's NCP program, focusing on visual sociology, ethnographic methods, and the Seoulacious magazine project (podcast and YouTube content development).

  • European Union - Erasmus+ Program

    Partner: Koulutuskeskus Salpaus Further Education, Lahti, Finland

    Funding Framework: European Commission Erasmus+ VET Mobility Program

    Status: Proven Success (2025)

    Program: International work placement for Finnish vocational students

    KARSI successfully hosted a Finnish vocational student (Textiles & Fashion) for work placement in Seoul, contributing to Seoul Shootouts neighborhood documentation project. The student received excellent professional evaluation from home institution, demonstrating KARSI's capacity to meet EU Erasmus+ program standards.

  • Caraga State University (Philippines)

    Partner: Caraga State University, Butuan City, Mindanao

    Status: Partnership Established - First Expedition January/February 2026

    Focus: Comparative cultural transmission research across Southeast Asia

    KARSI is developing partnership with Caraga State University for collaborative research on Korean cultural flows in the Philippines. The planned expedition will conduct photo-sartorial elicitation research in Butuan, with CSU providing research assistants, local coordination, and co-authorship on resulting publications. This represents the third site in KARSI's comparative Vietnam-Indonesia-Philippines research framework testing embodied cultural transmission theory across different religious and colonial contexts.

    Planned Outcomes:

    - Joint academic publications with CSU co-authors
    - Methodology transfer workshops for CSU faculty
    - Student research assistant training
    - Positioning CSU as hub for Philippine cultural flow studies

  • Chau & Co. Gallery (Vietnam)

    Partner: Chau & Co. Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Status: Active Partnership

    Program: Vietnam Winter Cultural Residency - contemporary art and ethnographic research

    The Chau & Co. Gallery in Hanoi, Vietnam, is a contemporary art gallery specializing in emerging artists and international cultural exchange. The KARSI partnership provides students with artist residency opportunities combining cultural research with contemporary art practice. Programs focus on Vietnamese urban culture, Korean cultural flows in Vietnam, and cross-cultural artistic collaboration. Students can choose between tracks: working with Vietnamese artists and then exhibiting at a gallery space, or conducting ethnographic fieldwork on the cultural transmission of Hallyu in Hanoi.

    Program Focus:

    Contemporary art residency and exhibition

    Ethnographic research on Korean-Vietnamese cultural flows

    Vietnamese artist mentorship and collaboration

    Gallery exhibition and community presentationtion

  • UC Davis New Vietnam Studies Initiative (NVSI)

    Partnership Lead: UC Davis Prof. Caroline Kieu Linh Valverde, Director

    KARSI is formalizing a strategic partnership with UC Davis's New Vietnam Studies Initiative to build institutional infrastructure for Korea-Vietnam cultural research programs. This partnership transforms the successful Saigon x Seoul Street Studio Project (2017-2020)—which pioneered semio-sartorial elicitation methodology for cross-cultural understanding—into a sustainable, grant-funded academic collaboration.

    The three-way partnership structure positions KARSI for Korean operations and program direction, NVSI/UC Davis as US institutional anchor providing academic legitimacy and Vietnam Studies expertise, and Chau & Co. Gallery (Hanoi) for Vietnam operations and local artist networks. This framework enables joint applications to Korean government grants (ARKO, Korea Foundation) and future US federal funding (NEH, Mellon, SSRC).

    Prof. Valverde brings exceptional credentials (Fulbright, Rockefeller, and Luce scholar) and 20+ years of Vietnam research infrastructure that significantly strengthens grant applications to both Korean and US funders. The partnership formalizes our ongoing, informal collaboration since 2017, adding institutional infrastructure necessary to access major research funding while maintaining methodological innovation.

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