Dear colleagues,

The Asian Center for Women’s Studies (ACWS), Ewha Womans University, is pleased to announce the 2026 Emerging Scholars’ Talk Series, “Critical Feminist Interventions in Asia,” to be held from October 2026 to January 2027.

This lecture series brings together emerging scholars working critically on gender and sexuality across diverse Asian contexts, highlighting feminist scholarship that challenges dominant narratives, foregrounds local and situated knowledges, and advances intersectional and critical perspectives. Through dialogue among speakers, discussants, students, and researchers, the series aims to foster academic exchange, strengthen regional feminist conversations, and create a space for critical engagement across disciplines and locations.

We are delighted to invite you to the first lecture of the series:

October Lecture

Speaker: Christina Louise Belleza (MA, Women’s Studies, Ewha Womans University)
Discussant: Hyuna Moon (Senior Research Fellow, Center for Transnational Migration and Social Inclusion (CTMS), Seoul National University)
Date: Wednesday, 7 October 2026
Time: 17:00 KST

Title:
Reclassifying Skilled Care as Domestic Work: Institutional Misrecognition of Filipina Caregivers in Seoul’s “Foreign Housekeeping Managers Pilot Program”

Abstract:
This study examines the institutional misrecognition of Filipina caregivers in South Korea’s Foreign Housekeeping Managers Pilot Program. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s and Axel Honneth’s theories of recognition, the study shows how state policies, labor regulations, visa classifications, and credential recognition systems reclassified skilled caregivers as domestic helpers. It argues that institutional misrecognition emerges not from a lack of qualifications, but from the incompatibility between the Philippine and South Korean care systems, reinforced by broader gendered, racialized, and political structures.

Speaker Bio:
Christina Louise Belleza recently graduated from Ewha Womans University with a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies. Her research interests include migration, sexuality, and popular culture, with a focus on gender and transnational issues.

All sessions will be conducted online via Zoom (https://ewha.zoom.us/j/7344040131) and in English. Please note that interpretation will not be provided.

For the full lecture schedule and information on the remaining speakers and discussants, please see the posters.

We warmly invite researchers, students, and all those interested in feminist scholarship, gender and sexuality, migration, care, and critical approaches to Asia to join us for the series.

We look forward to welcoming you and to the conversations ahead.

Warm regards,

Asian Center for Women’s Studies
Ewha Womans University