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TCN

Founding Declaration

Founding Declaration of the Transcultural Network

Distinguished guests, professors, and experts joining us from around the world: thank you sincerely for celebrating the launch of the Transcultural Network with us today.

We are living through a dynamic period in which digital transformation, the spread of artificial intelligence, and global connectivity are rapidly changing our surroundings and giving rise to a new order. AI is breaking down language barriers, while digital platforms are reshaping everyday life and the structures of culture. New connections between individuals and society, and between culture and technology, emerge every day. As national borders and traditional boundaries become increasingly fluid, cultures can no longer be adequately understood solely through the conventional units of nation, ethnicity, or language.

Culture must now be understood not as static or singular, but as a transcultural flow—one that is continuously reshaped through encounter and mutual influence. The Transcultural Network is a new intellectual alliance formed in response to this historic need, and an international scholarly community that seeks to broaden cultural research through intersection, convergence, and creation.

We therefore commit ourselves to four core missions.

  1. Mission 01

    Build an academic foundation for transcultural research

    We will take a multidisciplinary approach to changing realities—including intercultural contact and mobility, platform-based societies, and digital creative ecosystems—to develop new theories and methods of transcultural research.

  2. Mission 02

    Advance scholarly cooperation through an international research network

    With our secretariat in Seoul, the Transcultural Network will work closely with experts across Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and beyond to establish a network-centred model of knowledge creation that moves beyond nation-centred research frameworks.

  3. Mission 03

    Form an intellectual community that explores new cultural creation

    For us, transcultural research does more than examine differences between cultures. It explores the third cultures and new creative possibilities that emerge where cultures meet and intersect. The Transcultural Network will study these processes of creative formation and connect scholarly inquiry with social practice.

  4. Mission 04

    Extend scholarly debate into social change and policy

    We will help transcultural perspectives produce meaningful change in education, cultural policy, international cultural exchange, the platform economy, and other areas of the digital and AI era.

Distinguished guests, today we are doing more than establishing another academic association. We are building an intellectual foundation suited to a new era. The Transcultural Network is committed not to the interests of any particular nation or group, but to public knowledge that advances cultural understanding and creativity for all humanity.

We will acknowledge and respect our differences while exploring together the new possibilities found between them. Through this journey, we will help establish international standards for transcultural research and open new scholarly horizons for future generations of researchers.

We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone gathered here today. The participation and solidarity of each of you will shape the future of the Transcultural Network. We look forward to active communication and collaboration through conferences, research projects, joint publications, policy studies, and many other initiatives.

From this moment, we formally declare the founding of the Transcultural Network. May today’s declaration mark the beginning of sustained international scholarly cooperation that will help us understand and lead the transcultural era.

Thank you.