Jung H. Kim lectures on women's roles in the Kam Church at the Oberlin Korean Students Conference. The OKSA conference was held last weekend in an effort to educate the Oberlin community about Korean and Korean-American issues, as well as demonstrate the importance of Asian American Studies, according to organizers.

"We were pretty happy with the turnout," Michelle Shim, co-chair of OKSA said. "It was a good first step for OKSA."

Charlene Cole-Newkirk, dean of student life and services, made the opening remarks at the conference. She said one of the most amazing things about Oberlin is that students have the initiative to organized conferences like this one.

"OKSA did an incredible service to Oberlin. It was excellent. The speakers were engaging and extremely knowledgeable," Cole-Newkirk said.

Cole-Newkirk said she thinks students, faculty and staff who attended the conference learned a lot. "It pointed to the need for more Asian-American Studies courses," she said.

Shim thinks the conference demonstrated the need for Asian-American studies as well.

The conference also included a lecture on Koreans versus Korean Americans, the emergence of coalition politics and the emergence of conflict between North and South Korea. (photo by Chandrika Rai)