Core Curriculum 2006-2007

Primarily for Undergraduates

Historical Study A-75. The Two Koreas
Catalog Number: 0786
Carter J. Eckert
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
This course seeks to provide a broad historical context in which to understand the contemporary political division on the Korean peninsula. It examines key historical forces that have created and shaped the two Koreas before, during, and after the actual partition of the country in 1945. Topics include nascent nation-building efforts between 1876 and 1910, the impact of Japanese colonialism and the Cold War, and North/South development and interaction after 1948. The course interweaves political, socioeconomic, and cultural themes within an historical framework centered on nation-building while also highlighting a number of major historiographical issues in modern Korean history.

Foreign Cultures 80 : Korea at 2100
Catalog Number: 8798 David McCann
Half course (fall term): M., W., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged.
Examines Korea's often challenged but persistent cultural identity expressed in literature, art, and history. Begins with the Korean War, turns to the Japanese annexation of Korea, then the late 19th-century Enlightenment Period when Korea and Koreans struggled to respond to a series of internal and external threats. Next, Korean history, from the Unified Silla Kingdom in the 7th century, through the succeeding Koryo and Choson dynasties, examining similar moments of cultural challenge and response. Closes with a brief consideration of the re-production of identity issues in the context of recent celebrations of the first century of Korean-American history, 1903-2003.