Sources, Methods, and Teaching Global History through Distilled Liquor
A talk by Professor Hyunhee Park, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center
This talk explores the global history of soju, Korea’s traditional distilled liquor, and argues that the Mongol Empire played a crucial role in accelerating the diffusion of distilled liquors across Eurasia. The transfer of distilled spirits to Koryŏ Korea represents one of the clearest documented cases of technological transmission, illustrating Korea’s integration into Mongol-era exchange systems and broader processes of cultural and technological exchange.
March 20, 2026, 10:40 am – 12:05 pm ET, St. John’s University, University Center Suite D, and on Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/22160925119374?p=e0vcjkYe73QUl411Pa
Sponsored by the Geiss Hsu Foundation, the St. John’s University Institute for Asian Studies, and the Department of History