On October 29th 2019, it was fresh and brisk so everyone was covered with warm clothing. The l1th joint academic conference was held at Dongtan Global High School. Students from Goyang, Busan, Seoul, Sejong, and Incheon came all the way to Dongtan.

The conference started with the startling outset of two emcees, Geun-Woo Lee and Da-Yeon Kim. Those two led the conference in the finest circumstance that began with the opening ceremony from the DGHS orchestra Armonia, DGHS Samuloripae Woorisori, and DGHS cheerleading club Hollis. The performances successfully lifted the mood the gymnasium filled with people from different schools who were awkward around each other.

Then, we listened to the remarkable opening address from our principal Sang-Yol Cheong. It prosperously wrapped up our school's preparation, and naturally brought the audience's attention to the main event. A presentation prepared by professor Byeong-Min Lee from the Department of English Education at Seoul National University took place on the heels of his speech.

He focused on the history and emergence of Neo-Nationalism with a slight mention of national self-determination theory. His presentation profoundly explained different meaning of "nation," therefore allowing students to briefly, at least, to understand how this topic became an important issue in the world.

The theme of this year's conference was "Neo-Nationalism.' Before the concurrent sessions began, each team presented an introductory speech. Since there were three venues, and two sessions per venue, a total of six teams had time to explain the main topic for their sessions.

Starting from teaching students the concept of Neo-Nationalism to simulating an act, all speakers tried their best to help the audience understand what part of 'Neo-Nationalism" they would talk about.

After the introductory speeches, students and speakers were assigned to three different areas: the gymnasium, auditorium, and one of the lecture rooms. In Venue 1, speakers talked about the social and cultural aspects of Neo-Nationalism, Venue 2 about the economic and political aspects, and Venue 3 about the environmental and technological aspects. Each venue had a moderator, three keynote speakers, and five commentators.

There was a really active atmosphere which helped foster discussion about global issues. Compared to last year, the discussion became much more profound so that we were able to learn learn more about the topic, Neo-Nationalism that is currently effecting all countries in the world,

DGHS, as a group of people who are potentially global citizens, stepped forward to become a public sphere to discuss issues that are closely related to not only just few nations, but all member states. Thanks to all the students, teachers and also all the members from the other schools, this conference was able to be an interactive occasion.

By Geun-Woo Lee and Min-Seo Kim
(DG reporters)