Korean Job Discussion Forums

[julian_w]

Hi! I'm teaching a course on Korean popular culture.
Anyone else out there covered literature within a course on a similar topic?

Any hints or tips? What did you cover, and how?

Thanks for any help and any further details.

[edwardcatflap]

Who's it for?

[julian_w]

[edwardcatflap]

Jeez, who came up with that idea? It's like if you were studying French and the teacher said you were going to learn French by listening to Beatles songs and watching episodes of Friends I guess the Korean response would be this is Korea so we learn Korean culture - and how everyone in the world apparently loves it. Good luck trying to find some modern Korean literature that isn't boring and solely about the subject of what it's like to be Korean.

Anyway in practical terms there's a book knocking around in English on Korean popular culture, I saw it in What the Book. You could also use the 'eat your kimchi' videos which some people swear by.

[PRagic]

So you won't be able to use Korean lit? I'm guessing that the non-k students won't be able to digest anything in Korean.

There are academic articles in international journals written in English on Hollyu and Korean pop culture. Look on scholar.google.com.

A decent book (in Korean) has a title something along the lines of 'For the Country to Live, Confucionism Must Die'. That might at least form the basis for some discussion.

You could also look at some popular culture studies that have been done, for example by Hofstede, Trompennaars, or the work of Hall.

Or you could just watch K movies and TV shows, then take them on field trips to all the places now over run by tourists.

[PRagic]

As you mentioned semesters, it would seem that you're at a university.

In what dicipline is your background? This is generally the type of course they'd have someone with a Ph.D. in film/media studies with a specialization in Korea undertake, or possibly an anthropologist, sociologist, or cultural geographer with a specialization in K pop culture do.

Are they trying to get away on the cheap?

[edwardcatflap]

[PRagic]

Sure, if there was enough interest, particulary from foreign students. Most of the GSIS programs have courses on 'Korean Culture and Society' or something to that effect. Wouldn't be too big of a stretch to make it a course on Contemporary Korean Culture to include pop culture.

The OP might also want to look into social movements. There is an expanding lit on Korean social movements in the academic lit.