Past
Wild Fermentation: Microbes, Fermentation, and Makgeolli
How do paradigms in biological sciences and national identity shape alcohol brewing practices, and even dictate the classification of microorganisms? How do notions of purity and diversity enable certain concepts in alcohol production while disallowing others? Yong Ha Jeong, with historians of science Victoria Lee and Charles Kollmer, gathered to discuss historical conditions spanning from the late 19th-century to the present that have shaped alcohol fermentation practices in Korea and Japan. AC and GYOPO welcomed all folks to join us as we shared a drink of makgeolli during the talk.
This event featured live captioning and ASL interpretation.
About the Artists
Victoria Lee
Victoria Lee is an assistant professor of history at Ohio University and currently a fellow at the Institut d’études avancées de Paris. She received her PhD in the history of science from Princeton. She is the author of The Arts of the Microbial World: Fermentation Science in Twentieth-Century Japan, forthcoming...
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Yong Ha Jeong
Yong Ha Jeong is a Korean traditional music researcher turned sool (Korean alcohol) brewer, Yong Ha was introduced to the world of Korean wild fermentation in 2012. Since then, she has studied Korean brewing technology informed by the alchemy of nuruk, coarsely ground grain fermentation starter containing wild microorganisms. Central...
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Charles Kollmer
Charles Kollmer is a historian of microbiology, biotechnology, and biomedicine. His research focuses on how humans have repurposed living things as tools in industry, agriculture, medicine, and science, and how this shaped scientific knowledge of life. Currently, Kollmer is the Ahmanson Postdoctoral Instructor in History of Biology at the Division...
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Event Details
DATE: March 13, 2021
LOCATION: Online