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Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes South Korea, North Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Korean history, Korean culture, Korean literature, Korean art, Korean music, Korean language and linguistics, Korean sociology and anthropology, Korean politics, Korean economics, Korean folklore, Korean ethnomusicology and increasingly study of Korean popular culture. It may be compared to other area studies disciplines, such as American studies and Chinese studies. Korean studies is sometimes included within a broader regional area of focus including "East Asian studies".
The term Korean studies first began to be used in the 1940s, but did not attain widespread currency until South Korea rose to economic prominence in the 1970s. In 1991, the South Korean government established the Korea Foundation to promote Korean studies around the world. [1]
Korean studies was originally an area of study conceived of and defined by non-Koreans. Korean scholars of Korea tend to see themselves as linguists, sociologists, and historians, but not as "Koreanists" unless they have received at least some of their education outside Korea and are academically active (for example publishing and attending conferences)in languages other than Korean (most Korean studies publications are in English but there is also a significant amount of Korean Studies activity in other European languages), or work outside Korean academia. In the mid-2000s, Korean universities pushing for more classes taught in English began to hire foreign-trained Koreanists of Korean and non-Korean origin to teach classes. This was often geared towards foreigners in Korean graduate schools. There are now graduate school programs in Korean Studies (mostly active at the MA level) in most of the major Korean universities. BA programs in Korean Studies have now been opened at two Korean universities. The BA programs are distinctive in that they have few foreign students.
What exactly Korean Studies is, who is teaching it, who is learning, and what should be taught continues to be debated.
There has been a small series of works debating Korean Studies published in academic journals. A sort of historical overview by Charles Armstrong titled "Development and Directions of Korean Studies in the United States" comes strongly from Armstrong's perspective teaching history at Columbia University, as his work: "Focusing on the discipline of history, ... traces the emergence of Korean Studies in the 1950s, the evolution of the field and the changing backgrounds of American scholars working on Korea in the 1960s to 1980s, and the rapid growth of Korean Studies since the early 1990s." [2] Another historian, Andre Schmid published an early contribution to the debate in 2008, challenging the ways that English academia was pushing or shaping the directions of Korean Studies. Schmid explained, "In the unequal global cultural arena where English still dominates, the direction of Korean Studies in the United States disproportionately shapes international representations of Korean culture." [3] University of Berkeley Sociologist John Lie contributed two pieces to the debate, the more recent of which challenged the Korean Studies, claiming "senior Koreanists seem rather content with their progress, telling their followers bizarre tales from the field and seeking to reproduce the archaic and mistaken Harvard East Asia paradigm." Lie discusses the weaknesses he sees in this paradigm for the remainder of the essay. [4] In 2018 CedarBough T Saeji published an article in Acta Koreana bringing in the perspective of teaching Korean Studies in Korea, focusing on "1) the struggle to escape the nation-state boundaries implied in the habitual terminology, particularly when teaching in the ROK, where the country is unmarked (한국,"Han'guk"), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is marked (북한,"Pukhan"), and the diaspora is rarely mentioned at all; 2) the implications of the expansion of Korean Studies as a major within the ROK; 3) in-class navigations of Korean national pride, the trap of Korean uniqueness and (self-)orientalization and attitudes toward the West." [5]
The following are the major centers that have opened Korean Studies outside Korea.
The United States is one of the countries with the highest interest in Korean studies, with Korean language and Korean studies courses open at all Ivy League universities, including Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
The term Koreanist generally indicates an academic scholar of Korean language, history, culture, society, music, art, literature, film, or any other subject who primarily publishes in a Western language. All such Koreanists are fluent in Korean and various other relevant research languages.
Koreanists who have published at least one Western-language academic book include:
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the nation's first public, research-oriented science and engineering institution. KAIST is considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in the nation. KAIST has been internationally accredited in business education, and hosts the Secretariat of the Association of Asia-Pacific Business Schools (AAPBS). KAIST has 10,504 full-time students and 1,342 faculty researchers and had a total budget of US$765 million in 2013, of which US$459 million was from research contracts.
Keimyung University, abbreviated as KMU or Keimyung (Korean: 啓明), is a private university located in Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea. The university was founded in 1954 with the support of the leaders of the Northern Presbyterian Church of the U.S. as a Christian university. KMU is composed of three campuses in the city of Daegu, South Korea. They are named for their locations within the city; Daemyeong, which is near the downtown area, Seongseo, which is in the western part of the city, and also Dongsan campus which includes Dongsan Medical Center.
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies is a private research university based in Seoul, in South Korea. The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages. In addition, it contains studies in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering.
Yeungnam University is a private research university located in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, South Korea. The university's predecessors, Taegu College and Chunggu College, were founded in Daegu in 1947 and 1950 respectively. In 1967, the two colleges were merged by President Park Chung Hee to form Yeungnam University. In 1972, the university's new main campus opened in Gyeongsan east of Daegu. The university includes colleges of Law and Medicine as well as a university hospital. It ranked 1st in the rate for passing the bar exam for the second straight year (2015~2016), it also ranked 6th in providing CEOs in Korea's top 100 companies (2015), and 6th in providing the CEOs in Companies listed on KOSDAQ (2014). Yeungnam University is ranked 501 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
National Chengchi University is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of Taiwan. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subsequently relocated to Taipei and resumed full operation in 1954 as the first re-established "National University" in Taiwan.
Yong In University is a private university located in Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Founded as a judo school, it expanded to the present-day comprehensive private university offering both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Dankook University, abbreviated as DKU, is a private research university in Yongin and Cheonan, South Korea. The university was established in 1947. It was the first university established after the National Liberation Day of Korea, and its original location was in Jongno District and Yongsan District, Seoul.
Dongduk Women's University is a private university in Seoul, South Korea.
Korea University is a private university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905, the university was named after Goguryeo. The university is one of the SKY universities.
Hanyang University is a private research university in Seoul and Ansan, South Korea. Hanyang derives from the former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon period. The university was founded in 1939 as an engineering school, and was the country's first college to offer engineering and architecture programs.
Inha University is a private research university located in Incheon, South Korea. Known traditionally for research and education in the engineering and physical sciences, the university was established by the first president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee. Inha is a Korean-American collaboration school, even in its name: the Morpheme "In" comes from the city of Incheon and "Ha" from Hawaii, USA. Started as a polytechnic university in 1954, named Inha Institute of Technology, the institute has been achieving national recognition and a strong reputation as a technological research university thereafter.
Middle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. It is considered a form of area studies, taking an overtly interdisciplinary approach to the study of a region. In this sense Middle Eastern studies is a far broader and less traditional field than classical Islamic studies.
East Asian studies is a distinct multidisciplinary field of scholarly enquiry and education that promotes a broad humanistic understanding of East Asia past and present. The field includes the study of the region's culture, written language, history and political institutions. East Asian studies is located within the broader field of Asian studies and is also interdisciplinary in character, incorporating elements of the social sciences and humanities, among others. The field encourages scholars from diverse disciplines to exchanges ideas on scholarship as it relates to the East Asian experience and the experience of East Asia in the world. In addition, the field encourages scholars to educate others to have a deeper understanding of and appreciation and respect for, all that is East Asia and, therefore, to promote peaceful human integration worldwide.
Kyung Hee University is a private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. It was founded in 1949. Kyung Hee University is part of the Kyung Hee University System, which offers comprehensive education from kindergarten through graduate school.
Kookmin University is a private research university established in 1946 in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It has historic significance, as it was founded during by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and is the first private university founded after the liberation of the Republic of Korea from Japan.
The Korea Foundation is a non-profit public diplomacy organization established in 1991 to promote a better understanding of Korea and strengthen friendships in the international community. The foundation carries out various projects for exchange between the South Korea and foreign countries to cultivate mutual understanding.
Southeast Asian studies (SEAS) refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. Some institutions refer to this discipline as ASEAN Studies since most of the countries that they study belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN. Definitions of what constitutes Southeast Asia differ between scholars, which blurs the boundaries between Southeast Asian studies and other regional studies like Oriental studies and post-colonial studies. Southeast Asian studies incorporates anthropology, religious studies, linguistics, and international relations.
Konkuk University is a South Korean private university founded in 1931 and it is one of the top universities in South Korea. The university was founded based on three virtues: sincerity, fidelity, and righteousness.
Martina Deuchler is a Swiss academic and author. She was a professor of Korean studies at the SOAS University of London from 1991 to 2001.
Mózes Csoma is a Hungarian Koreanist. He researches current and historical events in Korea. He is an associate professor with a habitation degree and a senior research fellow.
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