UG Programme - Core Courses
Introductory Seminar in Korean Studies
In this course, students will engage Korea’s rich cultural heritage and long history, garner an understanding of the field of Korean studies, gain a sense for the complexities of contemporary Korea, and learn the fundamentals of critical reading and expository writing. The course surveys important historical figures, cultural forces, and socio-economic developments on the Korean peninsula, as well as methods, sources, and authors in the field of Korean studies. Students are tasked to find, organize, and critically evaluate both primary and secondary Korean studies materials to deepen their knowledge of Korea and become capable researchers. This course is designed for Global Korean Studies majors and will be challenging. Class is conducted in English, and all written assignments are composed in English. However, advanced Korean skills (including a basic knowledge of Sino-Korean characters) are required.
Korean Studies and Data Science
In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of data science as they pertain to the study of Korea. The course will survey how data about Korea has been created historically, as well as how it is currently curated and how it might be made in the future. Similarly, the course will survey how data has been assessed historically and in the present, as well as how it might be assessed and used to understand Korea in the future. Students will also be taught basic programming and mathematical skills that will enable them to create, assess, and learn from data about Korea.
Topics in Korea today
This course is designed to introduce students to the current affairs of Korea today, encompassing issues in politics, economy, and society. It seeks to help students develop critical thinking and writing ability in analyzing the key historical and policy issues affecting the lives of Korean people today. Throughout the semester, students will learn to locate current issues in a historical context, and also identify problems in current government policy in addressing those issues. The course utilizes interdisciplinary approaches in political science and history. The instructor and students work very closely to build a lively and interactive learning environment in which group presentations and discussions are highly encouraged.
Modern Political history of Korea
This course studies modern Korea, the period of transition, from 1876 the year Korea opened its door to foreign powers to 1945 the year Korea had its independence. It traces the modern Korean history with the context of world-system change, the Koreans' efforts for the modernization at the turn of the centuries, formation and collapse of the Daehan Empire, the social changes, and the development of Korean nationalism during the colonial period. Some issues in this period are still very controversial because contemporary political fractions are debating about interpreting modern political history of Korea to justify their political position. Also issues in this period has been hot between Korea and Japan. The students are encouraged to cultivate their own perspective on the major issues of the modern political history of Korea. Active discussion and presentation is expected during the class.
Theory and Practice in Global Korean Studies Ⅰ (Capstone Design)
This course offers field practice to utilize knowledge accumulated from classroom studies for society. It contains diverse fields in Korean studies including academic, business, and social area. Students are expected to design and participate actively.
Introduction to Korean Literature
In this course, students are introduced to Korean literature and learn the fundamentals of critical reading and expository writing. The course begins with readings from contemporary Korea (both North and South) and then move backward through time to explore some of Korea’s earliest legends and creation myths. Important authors and genres from both the modern and premodern periods are examined. Each unit centers on a small number of literary texts; historical materials and/or critical essays supplement and contextualize these works. All readings are in English. No previous knowledge of Korea or the Korean language is required.
Intro to Korea thru Literature and Film
This course is designed to help you understand South Korea (Korea hereafter) through its popular culture, and enjoy Korean pop culture better by knowing more about Korean society. Although the course title is Intro to Korea through Literature and Film, this course focuses more on Korean pop culture as represented by ‘K-pop,’ ‘K-drama,’ and ‘Korean cinema,’ whose popularities have soared throughout the world. However, the modern forms of the pop culture, which fascinate people around the globe, did not spring into existence out of nowhere. Instead, they emerged and have constantly coevolved within the national and international contexts of Korean history. This course explores how Korean pop culture has come to take on its current forms, corresponding with the political, the economic, and the technological spheres in historical contexts.
Globalisation and Korean Development
This course offers an introduction to the arguably most significant feature and problem of our era: globalisation. It reviews economic, sociological and political theories of globalisation and assesses actually existing globalisation processes that produce certain types of development with peculiar social, cultural, political and ecological consequences. In doing so, it examines how these processes influence the world in general and South Korea in particular. Furthermore, we investigate the role of South Korea as a very active builder of global capitalism in these processes.
Development: Global Debates and Korean Experience
This course aims to provide an overview of core debates around the notion and practice of development across the world, with a particular emphasis on Korea’s experience of development. This course touches upon major social theories that intervene in the making of the notion of development and identifies sets of social relations and issues that affect development practice. In so doing, we will look into the ways in which these theories, sets of social relations and issues shape and reshape our development experience in Korea.