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Fall Term 2023
Contemporary South Korean Culture
Host: Indiana University
Professor: John Finch (finchjd@indiana.edu)
Times: M/W 3-4:15 PM ET
Participating Universities: Nebraska/Penn State
Liaisons: Ikuho Amano (ikuho@unl.edu), Jayoung Song (jayoung.song@psu.edu)
The Korean War: A Local and Global History
Host: University of Iowa
Professor: Alyssa Park (alyssa-park@uiowa.edu)
Times: T/Th 12-1:15 PM ET
Participating Universities: University of Illinois, Indiana University
Liasons: Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu), Seung-kyung Kim (sk84@indiana.edu)
Korean Languages and Contemporary Pop Culture
Host: University of Iowa
Professor: Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu)
Times: T/Th 10:30-11:45 AM ET
Participating Universities: University of Minnesota, Purdue University
Liasons: Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu), Song No (sno1@purdue.edu)
Translating Korean Poetry: Theory and Practice
Host: University of Michigan
Professor: Youngju Ryu (yjryu@umich.edu)
Times: M/W 4-5:30 PM ET
Participating Universities:University of Wisconsin, Rutgers University, Indiana University
Liasons: Charles Kim (charles.kim@wisc.edu), Jae Won Chung (jchung@alc.rutgers.edu), Seung-kyung Kim (sk84@indiana.edu)
Language and Society of the Two Koreas
Host: University of Minnesota
Professor: Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu)
Times: M/W 3:00-4:15 PM ET
Participating Universities: University of Iowa, University of Maryland
Liasons: Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu), Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu)
Performing Korean Diasporas: Korean and Korean American Experiences from the 20th Century to the Present
Host: Ohio State University
Professor: Hayana Kim (kim.9202@osu.edu)
Times: M 2:15-5 PM ET
Participating Universities: University of Michigan, Michigan State University
Liasons: Evan Vowell (edv@umich.edu), Catherine Ryu (ryuc@msu.edu)
Spring Term (U-M Winter) 2023
South Korean Education
Host: Indiana University
Professor: John Finch (finjd@indiana.edu)
Times: TBD
Liaisons: Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu), Lan Kim (luk18@psu.edu)
Rocks, Wind, and Women: Environment and Identity on Korea's Jeju Island
Host: University of Michigan
Professor: Rory Walsh (roryw@umich.edu)
Times: Th 12:00 - 3:00 PM CT, 1:00 - 4:00 PM ET
Liaisons: Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu), Lan Kim (luk18@psu.edu)
Korean Film and Media
Host: University of Minnesota
Professor: Travis Workman (tworkman@umn.edu)
Times: TBD
Liaisons: Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu), Evan Vowell (edv@umich.edu)
Imagining Disaster: Korea and the Apocalyptic Modern
Host: Rutgers University
Professor: Jae Won Chung (jchung@alc.rutgers.edu)
Times: TBD
Liaisons: Song No (sno1@purdue.edu), Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu)
[Graduate Course] K-Pop: Genre, Identity, Industry, Fandom
Host: Ohio State University
Professor: Pil Ho Kim (kim.2736@osu.edu)
Times: TBD
Liaisons: Seung-kyung Kim (sk84@indiana.edu), Jae Won Chung (jchung@alc.rutgers.edu)
Fall Term 2022
Introduction to Korean Linguistics
Host: Indiana University
Professor: Hyo Sang Lee (hyoslee@indiana.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 4:45 - 6:00 PM ET
Participating Universities: Ohio State, Purdue
Liaisons: Mitchell Lerner (lerner.26@osu.edu), Song No (sno1@purdue.edu)
The Korean War: A Local and Global History
Host: University of Iowa
Professor: Alyssa Park (alyssa-park@uiowa.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM CT, 12:00 - 1:15 PM ET
Liaisons: Evan Vowell (edv@umich.edu), Ok-Sook Park (ospark@msu.edu)
Korean Languages and Contemporary Pop Culture
Host: University of Iowa
Professor: Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 9:30 - 10:45 AM CT, 10:30 - 11:45 PM ET
Liaisons: Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu), Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu)
Spectacular History of Korea
Host: University of Michigan
Professor: Se-Mi Oh (smoh@umich.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ET
Liaisons: Lan Kim (luk18@psu.edu), Jae Won Chung (jchung@alc.rutgers.edu)
Language and Society of the Two Koreas
Host: University of Minnesota
Professor: Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu)
Times: M/W 2:00 - 3:15 PM CT, 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET
Liaisons: Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu), Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu)
Korean Food Cultures: Past and Present
Host: University of Wisconsin
Professor: Charles Kim (charles.kim@wisc.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM CT, 12:00 - 1:15 PM ET
Liaisons: Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu), Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu)
Spring Term (U-M Winter) 2022
Dating, Sex, and Marriage in Korea
Host: Indiana University
Professor: John Finch (finchjd@indiana.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 3:55-5:10 PM CT, 4:55-6:10 PM ET
Participating universities: Ohio State, Illinois
Liaisons: Mitchell Lerner (lerner.26@osu.edu), Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu)
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
Host: University of Michigan
Professor: Juhn Ahn (jahn@umich.edu)
Times: M/W 11:30-1:00 PM ET
Participating universities: Rutgers, Purdue
Liaisons: Jae Won Chung (jchung@alc.rutgers.edu), Song No (sno1@purdue.edu)
Global Korean Diasporas
Host: Northwestern University
Professor: Ji-Yeon Yuh (j-yuh@northwestern.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 2:00-3:20 PM CT, 3:00-4:20 PM ET
Participating universities: Michigan, Illinois
Liaisons: Evan Vowell (edv@umich.edu), Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu)
From Sijo to K-Pop: Song Lyrics as a Literary Genre
Professor: Young-mee Cho (yucho@alc.rutgers.edu)
Times: M/Th 12:10-1:30 PM ET
Participating universities: Purdue, Maryland
Liaisons: Song No (sno1@purdue.edu), Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu)
Fall Term 2021
Spectacular History of Korea
Host: University of Michigan
Professor: Se-Mi Oh (smoh@umich.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ET
Participating universities: Michigan State, Maryland
Liaisons: Catherine Ryu (ryuc@msu.edu), Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu)
Making Places in Seoul
Ohio State University
Professor: Pil Ho Kim (kim.2736@osu.edu)
Times: W/F 1:20-2:40 PM CT, 2:20-3:40 PM ET
Participating universities: Penn State, Minnesota
Liaisons: Lan Kim (luk18@psu.edu), Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu)
The Koreas: Korean War to the 21st Century
Host: University of Wisconsin
Professor: Charles Kim (charles.kim@wisc.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 11:00-12:15 PM CT, 12:00-1:15 PM ET
Participating universities: Illinois, Purdue
Liaisons: Jeeyoung Ahn Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu), Song No (sno1@purdue.edu)
Korean Languages and Contemporary Pop Culture
Host: University of Iowa
Professor: Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu)
Times: Tu/Th 9:30-10:45 AM CT, 10:30-11:45 ET
Participating universities: Minnesota, Michigan State
Liaisons: Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu), Catherine Ryu (ryuc@msu.edu)
Language and Society of the Two Koreas
Host: University of Minnesota
Professor: Hangtae Cho (htcho@umn.edu)
Times: M/W 2:00-3:15 PM CT, 3:00-4:15 PM ET
Participating universities: Iowa, Maryland
Liaisons: Sang-Seok Yoon (sang-seok-yoon@uiowa.edu), Seong Minne Koh (skoh@umd.edu)
Modern History of Korea [graduate course]
Host: Rutgers University, University of Wisconsin
Professors: Suzy Kim (suzykim@alc.rutgers.edu), Charles Kim (charles.kim@wisc.edu)
Times: Th 3:45-5:45 PM CT, 4:45-6:45 PM ET
Participating universities: Northwestern, Ohio State
Liaisons: Ji-Yeon Yuh (j-yuh@northwestern.edu), Mitchell Lerner (lerner.26@osu.edu)
Spring Term (U-M Winter) 2021
Imagining Disaster: Korea and the Apocalyptic Modern
Rutgers University
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin
Making Places in Seoul: History of Urbanism & Development
The Ohio State University
Michigan State University
Rutgers University
Korea and the United States 1882-Present
University of Wisconsin
University of Maryland
University of Illinois
Topics in Korean Culture: Current Affairs
University of Minnesota
Penn State University
University of Iowa
Understanding Korea, Korean Society, and the Korean Language
Penn State University
The Ohio State University
Michigan State University
Fall Term 2020
Introduction to Korean Civilization
University of Michigan
Purdue University
University of Maryland
Dating, Sex, and Marriage in Korea
Indiana University
Penn State University
Purdue University
The Koreas: Korean War to the 21st Century
University of Wisconsin
University of Maryland
University of Minnesota
Kingdoms, Queendoms, and Collectives
University of Michigan
Rutgers University
University of Illinois
University of Michigan
Purdue University
Michigan State University
Spring Term (U-M Winter) 2020
Cold War Culture in Korea
University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, Purdue University
Language & Society of the Two Koreas
University of Minnesota, University of Maryland, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne
Making Places in Seoul
Ohio State University , University of Wisconsin, Penn State University
Traditional Korean Poetry: Sijo
Rutgers University, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne
South Korean Education: Examination Hell or Model for the World
Indiana University, Rutgers University, University of Iowa
Understanding Korea, Korean Society, and The Korean Language From The Points of View of Public Discourse, Ideology, and Stance
Penn State University, Michigan State University, Purdue University
Fall term 2019
Korean Language in Culture & Society
University of Iowa, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota
Film Culture in Korea
University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Penn State University
Global Korean Diasporas
Northwestern University, University of Illinois, U-C, University of Wisconsin
The Koreas: Korean War to the 21st Century
University of Wisconsin, Ohio State University, Rutgers University
Spring Term 2019 (U-M Winter 2019)
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
University of Michigan, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota
The Koreas: Korean War to the 21st Century
University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, The Ohio State University
Making Places in Seoul
The Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Indiana University
Cold War Culture in Korea
University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Rutgers University
Language & Society of the Two Koreas
University of Minnesota, Universityof Wisconsin, University of Iowa
Fall Term 2018
Film Culture in Korea
University of Michigan, University of Illinois, Michigan State University
Global Korean Diaspora
Northwestern University, University of Iowa, Pennsylvania State University
History of Modern Korea
Indiana University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Illinois
Korean Language in Culture & Society
University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota
Language & Society of the Two Koreas
University of Minnesota, Rutgers University, University of Maryland
Spring Term 2018 (U-M Winter 2018)
Interdisciplinary Topics in Korean Politics & Society
Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University
Language and Culture in Everyday Life: Korean Discourse as a Window Into Culture, Perception, Cognition, Identity, and Taste
Penn State University, Ohio State University, Michigan State University
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
University of Michigan, University of Iowa, University of Illinois, U-C
Korean War in Fiction and Film
University of Michigan, University Wisconsin, Rutgers University
Fall Term 2017
The Koreas: Korean War to the 21st Century
University of Wisconsin, University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University
Language and Society of the Two Koreas
University of Minnesota, University of Illinois
History of Modern Korea
Indiana University, Michigan State University, Purdue University
Historiography of Modern Korea
University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, The Ohio State University
Traditional Korean Poetry: Sijo
Rutgers University, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan
Film Culture in Korea
University of Michigan, University of Iowa, University of Maryland
Introduction to Korean Civilization
University of Michigan, Pennsylvania State University
Spring Term 2017 (U-M Winter 2017)
Introduction to Korean History
University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, Indiana University
Cold War Cultures in Korea
University of Minnesota, University of Maryland
Language and Culture in Everyday Life
Penn State University, University of Michigan, Rutgers University
Two Koreas: Political Economy of Regional Rivalry
The Ohio State University, University of Iowa, Michigan State University
Wealth and Poverty in Korea
University of Michigan, University of Illinois
Fall Term 2016
Gender and Class in Contemporary South Korea
Indiana University, The Ohio State University, Penn State University
Introduction to Korean Civilization
University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota
Language and Society of the Two Koreas
University of Minnesota, Rutgers University, University of Wisconsin
Global Korean Diasporas
Michigan State University, Northwestern University
Korean History, 1945 to Present
Michigan State University, Purdue University, University of Wisconsin
Making Places in Seoul: History of Urbanism and Development
University of Maryland, University of Michigan, The Ohio State University
Spring Term 2016 (U-M Winter 2016)
Spring Term 2016 (U-M Winter 2016)
Cold War Cultures in Korea
University of Minnesota, Purdue University
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin
Korean History, 1945 to Present
University of Wisconsin, Penn State University, Ohio State University
Language and Society of the Two Koreas
University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University.
Language and Culture in Everyday Life: Korean Discourse as a Window Into Culture, Perception, Cognition, Identity, and Taste
Penn State University, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Rutgers University
Performance Traditions of Korea P'ansori, Text and Performance
Ohio State University, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin
Two Koreas: Political Economy of Regional Rivalry
Ohio State University, University of Maryland
Fall Term 2015
Mediating the Koreas through Popular Culture: Music, Cinema, and Cyberspace
Course Number: KOREAN 5256 (OSU); KOR 498 (PSU); EAS 301-003 (UW)
Times: Wednesday & Friday, 2:20-3:40pm (ET)
Instructor: Pil Ho Kim, kim.2736@osu.edu
This is an introductory course for undergraduate students of all levels who are interested in how popular culture has been mediating Korea in the modern era and the complex, often tormented relationship between North and South Korea since the national division. In particular, we will focus on South Korea’s newfound soft power and its global impact that reaches even North Korea. In addition to academic texts, this course will make use of a wealth of materials from popular literature, music, film, TV dramas, cartoon, animation, internet and sports.
Through the lens of popular culture, we can observe how the nation responded to the inroads of modern western culture during the early modern period; how the politics of the Cold War and American hegemony affected them; how Korean popular culture has evolved and adapted to the rapid economic development and social changes in the postwar period. In terms of both export industry and lifestyle practice, the South Korean pop culture phenomenon – commonly known as the ‘Korean Wave’ or Hallyu – has come to enjoy global recognition. We will also compare and contrast North Korea’s self-image with popular cultural representations of North Korea by the South Korean media and the Hollywood/western media.
Hosting University: Ohio State University
Participating Universities: Penn State University; University of Wisconsin
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Introduction to Korean History
Course Number: EALC 199, HIST 108, KOR 197 (UW); ALL 3920 (UMN); History 3435 (OSU)
Times: Monday & Wednesday, 11:00-11:50pm (CT) Discussion Sections on Fridays
Instructor: Charles Kim, PhD, ckim45@wisc.edu
Korea has a long and rich history that provides a unique vantage point for understanding major processes in East Asia and the world. This course explores Korean history from the fourteenth century to the present. The first part of the course delves into key topics from the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392-1910), including Confucianization and the evolution of national identity. The second part focuses on politics, culture, and society under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). The final part turns to the contemporary era (1945 to present) to shed light on national division, social movements, gender relations, and popular culture in South Korea and North Korea.
Hosting University: University of Wisconsin
Participating Universities: University of Minnesota; Ohio State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Language and Society of the Two Koreas - Fall 2015
Course Number: ALL 3920 (UMN), ASN 291, Section 301 (MSU); ASIAN 380.002 (U-M)
Times: Tuesday and Thursday 2:00-3:15pm (CT)
Instructor: Hangtae Cho, PhD / htcho@umn.edu
This course is designed to offer an introduction and contrastive analysis of the language and society of the two Koreas; the Republic of Korea (better known as South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (better known as North Korea) with a heavier emphasis on North Korea. This course will introduce the growing divide of the past 70 years between North and South Korea in the areas of language, society and culture. The complexity of the East Asian region is partly due to the issues involving the two Koreas; however, knowledge regarding North Korea remains very limited compared to its neighbors. Mass media portrays the controversial political and human right issues of North Korea but generally lacks in coverage of everyday life there. The course content will be based on various scholarly articles and book chapters, current web-based resources, news reports, North Korean propaganda and documentaries. While this course will include linguistic elements of interest to intermediate and advanced students of the Korean language, all course content will be accessible to students regardless of Korean language proficiency. This course has no pre-requisites and does not expect students to have a background in political science, Korean history, or sociology, nor a background on North Korea. It does however expect that students have some interest in these areas.
Hosting University: University of Minnesota
Participating Universities: Michigan State University; University of Michigan
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Spring Term 2015 (U-M Winter 2015)
Language and Society of Two Koreas
Language and Society of Two Koreas
Course Number: ALL 3920 (UMN), KORA 398A (UMD), EAS 301 (UW)
Times: Monday & Wednesday 3:00-4:15pm (ET)
Instructor: Hangtae Cho, PhD / htcho@umn.edu
This course is designed to off er an introduction and contrastive analysis of the language and society of the two Koreas; the Republic of Korea (better known as South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (better known as North Korea) with a heavier emphasis on North Korea. This course will introduce the growing divide of the past 60+ years between North and South Korea in the areas of language, society and culture. The complexity of the East Asian region is partly due to the issues involving the two Koreas; however, knowledge regarding North Korea remains very limited compared to its neighbors. Mass media portrays the controversial political and human right issues of North Korea but generally lacks in coverage of everyday life there. The course content will be based on various scholarly articles and book chapters, current web-based resources, news reports, North Korean propaganda and documentaries. While this course will include linguistic elements of interest to intermediate and advanced students of the Korean language, all course content will be accessible to students regardless of Korean language profi ciency. This course has no pre-requisites and does not expect students to have a background in political science, Korean history, or sociology, nor a background on North Korea. It does however expect that students have some interest in these areas.
Hosting University: University of Minnesota
Participating Universities: University of Maryland; University of Wisconsin
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Korean History: 1945-Present
Korean History: 1945-Present
Course Number: ALL 3920 (UMN), History 335 (UW)
Times: Monday & Wednesday 11:00-11:50am (CT)
Instructor: Charles Kim, PhD / ckim45@wisc.edu
Ever since the establishment of two Korean nation-states after the end of World War II, North Korea and South Korea have been part and parcel of key trends and phenomena in East Asia and the world. As such, the post-1945 history of Korea has been shot through with transformations, dynamism, conflicts, triumphs, and, most of all, the unexpected. This course explores the politics, society, and culture of the two Koreas. Key topics include national division and the Korean War, the Cold War, memory, protest, popular culture, and globalization.
Hosting University: University of Wisconsin
Participating Universities: University of Minnesota
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Language and Culture: Korean and Korean Americans
Language and Culture: Korean and Korean Americans
Course Number: KOR 498 (PSU), ASN 291.301 (MSU), EAS 301 (UW)
Times: Tuesday & Thursday 12:00-1:15pm (ET)
Instructor: Susan Strauss, PhD / sgs9@psu.edu
In this course, we will study the interrelationships between culture, language, and worldview-with a specifi c focus on Korea and Koreans (living in Korea and abroad). Through research, theory, videos, printed matter, and music, we will investigate:
--How language shapes, creates, and is created by behaviors, expectations, orientations, perceptions, and practices
--How language shapes ways of viewing time, space, identities, nation, belonging, exclusion, opinion, even sensory perception-focusing on such issues as:
- Family - structure, kinship, children, the elderly
- Food - taste, presentation; noodle/rice culture
- Politeness (e.g., face, directness, honorifi cs)
- Identity (e.g., national identity, gender identity)
- Advertising - electronics, food and beverages, fashion
- Media and Entertainment - Korean Wave, K Drama, K-Pop
Hosting University: Penn State University
Participating Universities: University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
Course Number: Asian 376 (U-M); EAS 300
Times: Tues/Thurs 3:00 – 4:30PM (CT), 4:00 – 5:30PM (ET)
Instructor: Semi Oh
This course examines a number of key controversies in contemporary Korea (South and North). Through this examination this course will seek to provide a more critical understanding of the issues that drive the political economy and culture of Korea. Among other things, this course will examine the issue of comfort women, the Japanese history textbook controversy, the debate over Dokdo, collaboration during colonial rule, globalization, economic growth, and the Korean Wave (Hallyu), North Korea and the Axis of Evil, and education fever in South Korea.
Hosting University: University of Michigan
Participating Universities: University of Wisconsin
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Two Koreas: Political Economy and Regional Rivalry
Two Koreas: Political Economy of Regional Rivalry
Course Number: IS5050 (OSU), ASIA:4050 (039:147) / POLI:4050 (UI), INTL STD 388 (U-M)
Times: Tuesday & Thursday, 2:20-3:40pm (ET)
Instructor: Young-Bae Hwang / hwang.106@osu.edu
The main objective of this course is to provide students with the introductory understanding on the Korean peninsula. While we look at various theoretical and historical explanations, this course will focus on the nature of North and South Korean regional rivalry and its global impacts. We will examine various security issues including North Korean nuclear threat, military alliances, and reunification prospects. In addition, we will discuss several economic issues such as the differential growth paths, South Korea’s rapid growth, and recent economic woes in both Koreas.
Hosting University: Ohio State University
Participating Universities: University of Iowa, University of Michigan
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Cinema and Society in Contemporary South Korea
Cinema and Society in Contemporary South Korea
Course Number: KORA 398C (UMD), E350 / E505 (IU)
Times: Monday 4:30-5:45pm & Thursday 5-8:30pm (ET)
Instructor: John Finch, PhD / jfinch@gwu.edu
This course examines the intersection of gender, class, and nation in contemporary Korean society through the lens of current Korean films. The turbulent recent history of South Korea has produced a society that is engaged with a variety of local and global social forces in complex and contradictory ways. The sweeping social changes in South Korean society have engaged it in a struggle to redefine and re-examine itself, and its relation to such basic ideas as gender, class, tradition and nation. Contemporary Korean films provide an especially interesting entrée into these issues and how Koreans have been thinking about them. Students will be exposed to a variety of films (with English subtitles) that deal with various issues pertaining to gender, class, and national identity. The readings for the course draw from the fi elds of anthropology, history, literature, women’s studies, and film studies. Students will be given an opportunity to contextualize their learning through an understanding of how issues facing South Korean society relate to their own circumstances. Each week, the class will be organized around the screening of a feature film, preceded by an introduction to locate it in its cultural context and followed by a discussion.
Hosting University: University of Maryland
Participating Universities: Indiana University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Fall Term 2014
History of Modern Korea
History of Modern Korea
Course Number: HISTORY G372 (IU), HISTORY 392.002 (U-M), ASN 291 section 301 (MSU)
Times: Tuesday/Thursday 4:00-5:15PM (EST)
Instructor: Michael Robinson
This course examines the society, politics, and economic development of modern Korea of both North and South. The major themes of the course focus on the transformation of Korea from an agrarian, bureaucratic/aristocratic society into two, dynamic, authoritarian, industrialized and, in the case of the South Korea, democratizing, states. We will trace Korea’s response to the influx of Western political power in Asia after 1840 and examine the effects on Korea of the intrusion of capitalism and imperialism in the late 19th century. Since 1900, intellectual, political, social, and economic change in Korea has been extraordinarily rapid. How the modern Korean state and society has evolved as a response to this change is the central concern of the course. We will have to balance the force of the traditional legacy in the emerging blend of old and new in modern Korea in order to understand the unique shape of contemporary Korea’s social political order and its place in the emerging world order of the 21stcentury.
Hosting University: Indiana University
Participating Universities: University of Michigan, Michigan State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Cultures of the Cold War in Korea
Cultures of the Cold War in Korea
Course Number: ALL 3920-001 (UMN), KOREAN 4194 (OSU), KOR498 (PSU)
Times: Tuesday/Thursday 11:15-12:30(CST)/12:15-1:30(EST)
Instructor: Travis Workman
In this course we will analyze the Cold War not only as a geopolitical event, but also as a historical period marked by specific cultural and artistic forms. We focus on the Korean peninsula, looking closely at the literary and film cultures of both South Korea and North Korea. We discuss how the global conflict between U.S.-centered and Soviet-centered societies affected the politics, culture, and geography of Korea between 1945 and 1989, treating the division of Korea as an exemplary case extending from the origins of the Cold War to the present. We span the Cold War divide to compare the culture and politics of the South and the North through various cultural forms, including anti-communist and socialist realist films, biography and autobiography, fiction, and political discourse. The primary purpose is to be able to analyze post-1945 Korean cultures as both local forms and as significant parts of the global context of the Cold War era.
Hosting University: University of Minnesota
Participating Universities: Ohio State University, Penn State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Spring Term 2014 (U-M Winter)
Two Koreas: Political Economy and Regional Rivalry
Two Koreas: Political Economy of Regional Rivalry
Course Number: IS5050 (OSU), ASIA:4050 (039:147) / POLI:4050 (UI), INTL STD 388 (U-M)
Times: Tuesday & Thursday, 2:20-3:40pm (ET)
Instructor: Young-Bae Hwang / hwang.106@osu.edu
The main objective of this course is to provide students with the introductory understanding on the Korean peninsula. While we look at various theoretical and historical explanations, this course will focus on the nature of North and South Korean regional rivalry and its global impacts. We will examine various security issues including North Korean nuclear threat, military alliances, and reunification prospects. In addition, we will discuss several economic issues such as the differential growth paths, South Korea’s rapid growth, and recent economic woes in both Koreas.
Hosting University: Ohio State University
Participating Universities: University of Iowa, University of Michigan
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Language and Culture in Everyday Life: Korean and Korean Americans
Language and Culture in Everyday Life: Korean Discourse as a Window Into Culture, Perception, Cognition, Identity, and Taste
Course Number: KOR 498 (PSU); EALC 398 CIC (UIUC); KOREAN 574:390 (RU)
Times: Tues/Thurs 10:15 – 11:30AM (CT), 11:15 – 12:30PM (ET)
Instructor: Susan Strauss
In this course, we will study the interrelationships between culture, language, and worldview-with a specific focus on Korea and Koreans (living in Korea and abroad). Through research, theory, videos, printed matter, and music, we will investigate:
- How language shapes, creates, and is created by behaviors, expectations, orientations, perceptions, and practices
- How language shapes ways of viewing time, space, identities, nation, belonging, exclusion, opinion, even sensory perception-focusing on such issues as:
- Family - structure, kinship, children, the elderly
- Food - taste, presentation; noodle/rice culture
- Politeness (e.g., face, directness, honorifics)
- Identity (e.g., national identity, gender identity)
- Advertising - electronics, food and beverages, fashion
- Media and Entertainment - Korean Wave, K Drama, K-Pop
No prior knowledge of Korean is required.
Hosting University: Penn State University
Participating Universities: University of Illinois, Rutgers University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Controversies in Contemporary
Controversies in Contemporary Korea
Course Number: ASIAN 376 (U-M), HISTORY 3194 (OSU), ASN 291 (MSU)
Times: Tuesday 4:00-7:00
Instructor: Juhn Ahn
This course examines four contemporary controversies in Korea (South and North) in
order to provide a broad understanding of the very recent history of the birthplace of the
“Korean Wave” and the “Miracle of the Han River”: (1) comfort women, Japanese history
textbook controversy, and Dokdo; (2) globalization, economic growth, and the Korean
Wave (Hallyu); (3) North Korea and the Axis of Evil; (4) education fever in South Korea.
Hosting University: University of Michigan
Participating Universities: Michigan State University, Ohio State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus' academic calendar.
Introduction to Korean History
Introduction to Korean History
Course Number: History 108 (UW), KOR 197 (PSU), EALC 199 (UIUC)
Times: Monday/Wednesday/Friday 11:00-11:50 (EST)/12:00-12:50 (CT)
Instructor: Charles Kim
Korea has a long and rich history that provides a unique vantage point for understanding
major processes in East Asia and the world. This course provides a introduction to Korean
history from antiquity to the present. In the first part of the semester, we will delve into key
topics from the Koryo Dynasty (935-1392) and the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910), including
collective (or “proto-national”) identity, Confucian statecraft and Confucianization, and the
Tonghak religion and rebellions. In the second part of the semester, we will explore the
major transformations in politics, culture, and society during the 20th and 21st centuries.
Nationalism, colonialism, the Cold War and national division, gender identities, authoritarian
rule and, democratization, popular culture, and globalization are among the topics that we
will cover.
Hosting University: University of Wisconsin
Participating Universities: University of Illinois, U-C, Penn State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus' academic calendar.
North Korea Beyond Images
North Korea Beyond Images
Course Number: KOREAN 4194 (OSU), LIT TRANS 374 (UW), EALC E350 (IU)
Times: Tursday 3:25-5:55(EST)/2:25-4:55(CT)
Instructor: Se-Mi Oh
This course is designed to explore the visual cultures of North Korea. Why do we concern ourselves with the visual aspects of North Korean Culture? While North Korea has notoriously gained a reputation as the most isolated country in the world, there are many images inundating media, in news or in popular culture. Images are the most prominent way through which we gain knowledge about North Korea, but they are not transparent mediums and are in need of interpretation.
Throughout the semester, we will explore various ways through which North Korea uses visual mediums to showcase its state power and ideology, to write history, and to represent memory to the people of North Korea and to the world. We will also examine the representation of North Korea from perspective of the defectors as well as the Western spectators and even tourists. The genres that we will examine include art, architecture, murals, posters, stamps, illustrations, animation, photography, film, opera, mass games, museum, cemetery, and processions/parades. Students are expected to develop a critical perspective on the politics of representation and the role of the mediums in use.
Hosting University: University of Wisconsin
Participating Universities: Indiana University, The Ohio State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus' academic calendar.
Fall Term 2013
History of Modern Korea
History of Modern Korea
Course Number: HISTORY G372 (IU), HISTORY 392.002 (U-M), ASN 291 section 301 (MSU)
Times: Tuesday/Thursday 4:00-5:15PM (EST)
Instructor: Michael Robinson
This course examines the society, politics, and economic development of modern Korea of both North and South. The major themes of the course focus on the transformation of Korea from an agrarian, bureaucratic/aristocratic society into two, dynamic, authoritarian, industrialized and, in the case of the South Korea, democratizing, states. We will trace Korea’s response to the influx of Western political power in Asia after 1840 and examine the effects on Korea of the intrusion of capitalism and imperialism in the late 19th century. Since 1900, intellectual, political, social, and economic change in Korea has been extraordinarily rapid. How the modern Korean state and society has evolved as a response to this change is the central concern of the course. We will have to balance the force of the traditional legacy in the emerging blend of old and new in modern Korea in order to understand the unique shape of contemporary Korea’s social political order and its place in the emerging world order of the 21stcentury.
Hosting University: Indiana University
Participating Universities: University of Michigan, Michigan State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.
Modern Korean Literature
Modern Korean Literature
Course Number: SIAN375 (U-M), KOR498 (PSU), ASIAN 291.301 (MSU)
Times: Monday/Wednesday 1:00-2:30 (ET)
Instructor: Youngju Ryu
Throughout the twentieth century in Korea, literature provided the heated battleground for social and political contestations. In this class, we will read major works of modern Korean fiction in English translation and explore the relationship between literature and politics within a historical context that spans from the end of Confucian monarchy to colonialism, civil war, authoritarianism, democratization, and neoliberalization. Central to this exploration is the theme of modernity. Rather than take modernity as given, we will ask what other modalities of life and systems of understanding it has replaced. Topics of discussion will include: tradition and nativism, enlightenment and nostalgia, imperialist, nationalist and communist ideologies, urban space and culture, gender roles, changing conceptions of private life, and aesthetics of commitment.
Hosting University: University of Michigan
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus' academic calendar.
Participating Universities: Penn State University, Michigan State University
North Korea (DPRK): History, Literature, Film
North Korea (DPRK): History, Literature, Film
Course Number: ALL 3920-002 (UMN), ASIAN 380.003 (U-M), EALC 199 (UIUC)
Times: Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:30 (CT)
Instructor: Travis Workman
In this course we learn how to interpret critically the literature, film, and media produced within and about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, from its establishment in 1948 to the present day. We focus on questions of revolution and democracy, the Stalinist political formation, and on the ways that literature and visual culture create and recreate "North Korea" as a fantasy space. Students learn the history of North Korea as well as how to analyze its cultural products. There is also an emphasis on South Korean and American depictions of the country.
Hosting University: University of Minnesota
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus' academic calendar.
Participating Universities: University of Michigan
Spring Term 2013 (U-M Winter)
Introduction to Modern Korean Culture: Modern Period | Korea and the Modern World
Introduction to Modern Korean Culture: Modern Period | Korea and the Modern World
Course Number: ASIAN271 (U-M), SS13-ASN291-301 (MSU)
Times: Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-4:00
Instructor: Youngju Ryu
Korea’s twentieth century unfolded against the backdrop of violent political shifts caused by colonialism, civil war, authoritarianism, and democratization. This course is a survey of that history, from the end of the dynastic period to the present. In just one century, how did Korea go from a Confucian monarchy that prized an agrarian way of life to a neoliberal democracy with an export-led, technology-driven economy (at least in the south)? What are the enduring consequences of this transformation in the realms of politics and society, as well as culture and the arts? In addressing these questions, our emphasis will be on contemporary South Korea. A number of questions drawn from seemingly baffling headlines in recent or current news will structure our inquiry and serve as the points of entry. Recurrent in our examinations will be the theme of nationalism, both as it emerges in Korea’s transition from a dynastic polity to a modern nation-state and as it continues to impact the enduring relationship between historical memory and cultural constructions of identity. The aim of this course is not simply to develop familiarity with the broad sweep of modern Korean history and/or major themes of Korean culture from the outside, but to find creative ways to understand the workings of contemporary Korean society from within the complexities of its own logics and historical pasts.
Hosting University: University of Michigan
Participating University: Michigan State University
Human Rights, Anticolonialism, and the Global Cold War
Human Rights, Anticolonialism, and the Global Cold War
Course Number: History 698.002
Times: Wednesday 4:00-7:00
Instructors: Penny Von Eschen, Pamela Ballinger, in partnership with Dong-Choon Kim (Sung Kong Hoe University, Korea), Vjekoslav Perica (University of Rijeka, Croatia), and Marta Verginella (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
This one-time course offering provides an exciting opportunity to explore new frameworks and sources for understanding the historical period conventionally labeled the “Cold War” while simultaneously engaging in dialogue and exchange with overseas faculty partners and their students. Over the course of the semester we will conduct virtual classes with: Dong-Choon Kim (Sociology, Sung Kong Hoe University, Korea), Vjekoslav Perica (History, University of Rijeka, Croatia), and Marta Verginella (History, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) along with their students. Professor Kim and Perica will also visit our classes as noted on the syllabus. We will have several additional guest speakers. Funded by a Rackham Global Engagement Grant, the course offers a unique opportunity to develop projects in the context of broad international engagements; it also offers a hybrid between a research seminar in which students focus on producing their own original field paper and graduate reading or topics seminar. The course is designed to support research papers while offering the flexibility to opt for a historiographical (or field appropriate) readings paper. Exploring the intersections of multiple dynamics, the course is intended to accommodate a wide range of research topics across the long twentieth century. Because we are focused on developing student research projects and on quality of discussion with overseas partners, we emphasize an introduction to diverse analytic frames and the quantityof our reading will be less than that of a typical readings course (averaging three-four chapters/essays per week). Organized across the winter semester of 2013, the course will also offer a capstone conference in September 2013, where students will have the opportunity to present their work virtually and in some cases, in person, to our collaborators and other colleagues
Fall Term 2012
Introduction to Korean Civilization: the Premodern Period | Premodern Korean History and Culture in Global Context
Introduction to Korean Civilization: the Premodern Period (U-M)
Premodern Korean History and Culture in Global Contexts (MSU)
Course Number: ASIAN270 (U-M), GSAH 200; sec 301 (MSU)
Times: Monday/Wednesday 1:00-2:30
Instructor: Juhn Ahn
This course will serve as a general introduction to Korean history and culture from earliest times to the nineteenth century. A broad historical overview of the various social, economic, political, and religious traditions in premodern Korea will be accompanied by a brief but in-depth discussion of, among other things, the sense of time, space, history, language, body, self, and salvation that we find in the institutions, ideas, and practices of these traditions. Topics to be discussed in this course also include the relation between state, family, gender, and class. Students will be asked to explore these and other topics by applying a context-sensitive reading and critical analysis of the material that will be covered in this course. There are no prerequisites, but some background in the study of history and culture is recommended. Readings will include both primary material in translation and secondary scholarship.
Hosting University: University of Michigan
Participating University: Michigan State University