Korean Culture Courses

Course Code: 01:574:220
Course Title: Introduction to Korean Literature in Translation
Semester(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
SAS Core Certified: AHo, AHp

01:574:220 Introduction to Korean Literature in Translation

This course introduces major works, genres, and waves of Korean cinema from the Japanese occupation period to the present. This class helps students gain aesthetic responsiveness and interpretative ability to film as a popular art that both shapes and is shaped by the unfolding negotiations with tradition, and political, social and cultural lives. How does cinema register Korea’s experiences with modernity, colonialism, post-colonialism, national division, and the Cold War? How do films engage with questions of class, gender, nation, migration, diaspora and globalization? The course will move in historical sequence from the 1930s, covering major works of each decade, with a sustained focus on contemporary South Korean cinema during the second half of the semester.

Typically up to two unexcused absences are allowed without penalty. Students who have extenuating circumstances owing to health reasons or family emergencies should communicate the situation with the instructor (me) prior to your expected absence, when possible. *For ease of record-keeping, please include "attendance" in the subject line of your email. Bonus: If you achieve perfect attendance, you will receive two additional points added to your final average. If you have one absence, you will have one point added. For these considerations, I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences.

During each 3-hour session, there will be two teams of 2-3 presenters.

Team A will present on the reading(s) during the first half of the class.
Team B will present on the assigned film during the second half of the class.

Towards the end of class, there will be a "Roundtable" where Team A and Team B sit down together. The other students in class and I will have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with the day's presenters. Out of each 3-hour session, Presentations and Roundtable will take around 1-hour, which means good preparation will be essential to a productive session for all.

While each student will receive an individual grade based on the rubric below, good communication within the team will be essential for a substantive, coherent, and engaging presentation. Students may elect to produce a video beforehand to play, in lieu of presenting in real-time. Either way, all students are required to engage in the Roundtable in real-time.

*Every student must sign up for 5 scheduled responses at the beginning of the semester.

Rubric for Biweekly Responses:

5 points Engages key points of the reading assignment; raises thought-provoking questions; applies ideas found in the reading to familiar concrete examples in the assigned film, make connections to previous readings and/or uses technical film terminology; written clearly and with minimal typos.
4 points Achieves two or three of the above goals, with interesting analysis of a specific scene or sequence in the film; written clearly and with minimal typos.
3 points Achieves one or two of the above goals; mostly repeats what is stated in the reading assignment and/or summarizes the plot of the film without analyzing how it's put together; shows uneven grasp of the material; some errors at the level of mechanics.
2 points Demonstrates poor understanding of the assignment; repeated errors at the level of mechanics.
0 points Nothing posted.

Grading: Presentation 10%, Reading Responses 30%, Midterm Project 20%, Final Projects 30%

Course Code: 01:574:221
Course Title: Topics in Korean Literature in Translation
Semester(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3

01:574:221 Topics in Korean Literature in Translation

Description: Focus on a set of themes and issues as a way to read and analyze Korean literature and texts from various genres and as a way to explore Korea's historical background and cultural context. Topics vary by instructor.

Number of Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

Semesters Offered: Varied

Syllabus

Course Code: 01:574:230
Course Title: Introduction to Korean Cinema and Cinematic Language
Semester(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Credits: 3

01:574:230 Introduction to Korean Cinema and Cinematic Language

In this course, students will view several contemporary South Korean films that have received varying amounts of public attention and critical acclaim both inside and outside of South Korea. With South Korean directors receiving acclaim at international film festivals such as Cannes, the line between South Korean cinema and Global cinema is becoming blurred. Furthermore, with the recent success of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite at the 92nd Academy Awards, this course aims to equip students with a unique cultural perspective that will allow them to further explore the scope of South Korean cinema. The goal of this course is to engage with different cinematic representations of South Korean culture being presented and consumed by both a domestic audience and a global audience.

Course Goals:
  -Experience a wide range of contemporary films that can be categorized as “Korean Cinema” and understand the growing global appeal of these films.
  -Identify whether or not a distinct cultural representation of South Korean culture has successfully been translated to a global audience.
  -Generate discourse among students with different levels of exposure to South Korean culture and film.

Grading: Quizzes: 10%, Forum Discussions: 25%, Response Papers (2): 20%, Group Project: 10%, Final Examination: 25%

For each week that a film is assigned, there will be a short quiz to be completed by the end of that week (Sunday @ Midnight). Each quiz is worth 1 point. These quizzes will consist of comprehension questions about the film in order to check that students have watched the assigned film. Quizzes will can be found in the “Quizzes” tab on Canvas. For each film, there will be a class forum on Canvas. This forum will be for discussion and conversation, and should be an environment where students can openly share their ideas and opinions on the films that they watch. Each week, students are expected to make at least one post following the weekly topic—this topic will change each week (e.g., analyze a certain theme, identify a motif, show the film to a friend/family member and share the experience, provide a movie review, etc.). These discussion posts are due each week, Sunday @ Midnight. Students are also expected to contribute to the forum by responding to their peers’ posts. Students are expected to make at least 10 “Response Posts” throughout the semester. Our class forum can be found in the “Discussions” tab on Canvas.

Students will be responsible for two response papers throughout the semester. Students will watch five films that have been recognized at international film festivals and compare them to five films that have received domestic attention/acclaim in South Korea. These response papers are an opportunity for students to identify and analyze key similarities and differences between a Korean film that has received international acclaim and a Korean film that received domestic success. Optional writing prompts will be given to students one week prior to the due date.

Students are encouraged to generate their own writing prompt. Minimum word count: 800 words.

Students will sign up and form groups of 2-4 to create short PowerPoint presentations about one film that will be watched throughout the semester. These presentations should include background information about the film, including information about the director, actors, global and local box office, critical reception, motifs, themes, etc. Most importantly, the group will present discussion questions to be used in the discussion forums.

The final exam is to be completed during the 14th week of the course. Students will have the entire week to complete and submit the exam. The Final Exam will consist of 25 multiple choice/short answer/True False questions. The exam will cover all 10 films we have watched in class, as well as cover the required readings for the semester. Students will have access to all of the films, readings, and other resources, and are encouraged to make use of these sources of information to answer their exam questions.

Course Code: 01:574:250
Course Title: Korean Language in Culture and Society
Semester(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
SAS Core Certified: AHo, AHq

01:574:250 Korean Language in Culture and Society

This is a survey course of Korean language in relation to its culture and society. As an important window through which one understands the culture and society of the people who use it, language reflects people’s social-cultural behaviors, attitudes, thoughts and world-views. The topics include different forms of diglossia in the history of Korea, the cultural background and implication of the Korean writing system, linguistic divergences in the two Koreas, politeness, terms of address, language and gender, structure of folk narratives, literary language, advertisement, and the Korean language in the age of globalization.

Each student is required to complete all assigned reading before class and is responsible for presenting on the week’s readings and leading discussion at least two times in the semester. A class presentation schedule will be finalized by the second week of the semester. Specific guidelines for appropriate class presentations will be given.

Students are responsible for submitting five written responses no later than 1:00 AM the day of the class, will be collected in individual student portfolios that serve to document the student’s evolving insights into the subject matter of the course as well as their ability to convey their thoughts, both orally and in written form, in a mode appropriate to the field of East Asian Studies and Korean Studies. Three of the five written responses will be peer-reviewed through the peer-review function on Canvas. The instructor feedback will be made within a week of the submission directly on the canvas assignment folder. There will be a small group project that involves writing two paragraphs on relevant wiki entries, due on Nov. 5th (Wed.) Each group of 2-3 students will contribute at least three paragraphs to wikipedia on entries on Korean language and culture: (1) each group peruse existing entries, write a one-page rationale for expansion and modification, and share it with class, (2) conduct research, (3) write three paragraphs for peer-editing, (4) contribute the three paragraphs to wikipedia, and (5) write a detailed report on the project (a summary of the above process and a screenshot of your contribution). For small group discussions, the students will be using the Chatroom during the class session.

Throughout the semester ten quizzes will be given in order to evaluate students’ understanding of course readings and their ability to assimilate critical interpretations of the materials. They will be available and will be automatically graded on Canvas. The midterm consisting of six essay questions will be given on October 20th (Tuesday), to be finished within 80 minutes. The typed answer files will be submitted to the Midterm folder on canvas. Grading will be done directly on exam files on Canvas.

A one-page research proposal (with the title, an abstract and a list of references) will be submitted and individual meetings will be held via BBB to discuss each proposal. Each student will be given 15 minutes to receive instructor feedback on the feasibility of the project and help with literature search. In addition, there will be a session in class, devoted to go over detailed guidelines for writing a research paper.

The presentation of the proposal will be scheduled in Weeks 14 & 15. Each student will prepare 10 slides to present their research and two discussants will be assigned to comment on the presentation. The presenter-discussant pairing will be announced one week before presentation so that there will be enough time for discussion and feedback. Final research paper (8-12 page double-spaced) is due on December 14th (Monday). All written assignments will be evaluated based on the logical presentation of the ideas and issues covered in class reading and discussion, as well as on the originality of critical reflection of these issues.

Grading: Class Attendance and Participation: 10%, Midterm: 25%, Quizzes: 10%, Written Assignments: 20%, Class Presentations: 10%, Final Project: 25%