3.0

Average Course Rating

From North Korea’s nuclear threat to South Korea’s K-pop, Korea is constantly in the US media. But how much do you know about Korea? This introductory course is designed to introduce students to the long and complex cultural history of Korea. While focusing on key aspects in shaping premodern and modern Korean identity, the course also places Korea in a larger cross-national context, particularly its close interactions with China and Japan. Reading primary and secondary sources combined with visual materials, the course chronologically and thematically examines major historical moments, from Korea’s participation in and exit from a Sino-centric premodern world order, Japanese colonialism and its ramifications in Korean society, economic development and democratization, to the global popularity of Korean popular culture.