Committee on Korean Studies

Posted by: Beadle on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

The Korea Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Korean Studies invite participants in the 2010 annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies to attend a Korean studies reception Friday, March 26, 2010, in Liberty Ballroom A at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market Street. The reception is scheduled for 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and is open to all AAS participants. Questions about the reception should be directed to Eugene Park (epa@sas.upenn.edu).

Posted by: Beadle on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

As the chair of the CKS-AAS (April 2008 – March 2010), I would like to report CKS activities and accomplishments during the past one year. Since the CKS (executive board members) redefined in 2008 its identity as a professional organization that would connect various forms of resources to our members to promote your scholarly and teaching interests, we pursued the following new projects in collaboration with the Korea Foundation. First, in December 2009, we conducted an on-line survey to identify contents of multimedia teaching resources on Korea. With the support of the Northeast Asia Council (NEAC), we sent out this survey to members who were listed as Koreanists or/and Japanologists and received very positive feedback from them. We thank you for your participation. During the 2010 AAS meeting, the CKS board members will review contents of the audio-visual materials, which the Korea Foundation will produce on the basis of this feedback, in order to ensure their utility as effective teaching tools (rather than nationalist materials) for CKS members and beyond. Second, we will launch a series of professional development workshops to support advanced graduate students and junior faculty in the U.S. and South Korea. As a pilot project for this type of workshop, we will bring together mentors who are CKS members and advanced graduate students and junior faculty in South Korean universities. This first workshop intends to enhance these mentees’ skill to present their scholarly work in the U.S. and thereby expand the body of new scholarly materials on Korea for CKS members and beyond. This type of workshop can also facilitate scholarly exchange between those in South Korea and those in the U.S. During the 2010 AAS meeting, the board members will discuss logistics for organizing the workshop in Seoul, Korea. Third, we will compile a list of “recommended” books on Korea that are already published in English to support CKS members’ teaching about Korea in colleges and make these resources also available for K-12 teachers and general readers. We strongly encourage our CKS members to send your lists to the chair (semoon@vassar.edu) before the 2010 AAS meeting. It would be of great help if you can add brief annotations on the books you recommend. The board members will also generate concise annotations on these books. Continue reading →

Posted by: Beadle on Thursday, December 10th, 2009

In response to a growing number of requests for Korea-related multimedia content for instructional purposes (video clips of about five minutes for instruction on Korean history, culture, and society), the Korea Foundation plans to release a multimedia database in 2010 in an effort to make such video materials available to educational institutions. This program is being implemented in cooperation with the Committee on Korean Studies of the Association for Asian Studies.

An informational survey of faculty members who offer East Asian/Korean Studies courses is being conducted to assess the overall demand and identify subject areas for inclusion in the database. To participate in the survey, follow the link below:

http://www.myzenic.com/response/agency_survey/640_start.jsp.

Please submit of your response to the online survey no later than January 9, 2010.

The online survey was designed for users of Internet Explorer, and users of other browsers may encounter problems opening and responding to the survey on line. In such cases, the survey form can be downloaded and submitted by e-mail (to mjk@kf.or.kr) no later than January 9, 2010. The download link is: www.myzenic.com/response/agency_survey/survey.doc.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Seungsook Moon, chair (2008-2010), Committee on Korean Studies-AAS, and professor of sociology at Vassar College by e-mail at semoon@vassar.edu.

Posted by: Beadle on Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Seungsook Moon, chair of the CKS Executive Committee, has announced the results of the recent balloting to choose new members of the Executive Commitee. The top three vote-getters were Hwasook Nam of the University of Washington, Joy Kim of the University of Southern California, and Christopher P. Hanscom of Dartmouth College. They will serve three-year terms on the committee.

The Executive Committee consists of seven members elected by the CKS membership to serve staggered three-year terms. The continuing members of the committee are Donald N. Clark of Trinity University, Seungsook Moon of Vassar College, Michael J. Pettid of of the State University of New York at Binghamton, and Janet Poole of the University of Toronto.

Posted by: Beadle on Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Ballots have been mailed to current members of the AAS Committee on Korean Studies for the selection of three new members of the CKS Executive Committee. To be counted, completed ballots must reach the chair of the committee, Seungsook Moon (Department of Sociology, Vassar College, Box # 507, 124 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12604), by August 20, 2009. Ballots will also be accepted by e-mail at semoon@vassar.edu.