An opening seminar entitled "Methodology of Confucian Study" was held at Seoul National University on June 12, 2017, to open a 5-years-long joint research on Confucianism between Korea and France undnder the heading of "Confucian Subject Formation and Governability: Foucault and Habermas' Encounter with Confucianism". In this opening seminar, which was jointly hosted by the Institute for Social Development and Policy Research of Seoul National University, the Department of Asian Studies of Aix-Marseille University (France), and Joongmin Foundation for Social Theory, Prof. Jean-Claude de Crescenzo (AMU) explained the relevance of the Foucault’s concept of dispositif to studying Confucian Subject Formation in his keynote speech entitled “Management of Subjectivity: Dispositif and Confucianism.” And Prof. Sang-Jin Han proposed a research program to study Confucianism from the viewpoint of Discursive Methodology in his keynote speech paper entitled "Confucian Public Citizen Formation and Governance Model".

Following two keynote speeches, three research projects were presented. Prof. Sung-Min Hong(Dong-A University, Pusan/ Politics) presented why he decided to study the topic of “Empathic Sphere and Confucianism” from the viewpoint of Merleau-Ponty. Dr. Ju-Gang Lee (Kookmin University/Confucianism) explained why he would like to approach “Confucianism as a regime of emotion ” from the viewpoint of Spinoza’s concept of conatus. And Dr. Young-do Park (Institute for Social Development and Policy Research, Seoul National University/Sociology) proposed a research project of studying “Neo-Confucianism as a project of Enlightenment” and explained his methodological concept of ‘the Confucian dialectic of enlightenment’.

About these presentations, Professor Hong-Jung Kim (Seoul National University/Sociology), Prof. Ju-Hyun Cho (Keimyung University/Sociology), Dr. Yong-Wha Jeong (Chairman of Saenal School/Politics) and Prof. Hyun-A Yang(School of Law, Seoul National University/Sociology) made very interesting and heated discussions.