New Class on Early Korea at Harvard University

KOREAN HISTORY 130:
The Recurring Past--Early Korea and Northeast Asia as History and Identity

Fall 2010

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:00, 2 Divinity Ave., Room 212
Instructor: Mark E. Byington

With a focus on Korea’s proto-historic and early historic periods, this course will explore the question of history as shaper of identity, looking at the ways the remote past surfaces repeatedly in modern context. We will examine international disputes over historical interpretation, the popularization of the ancient past in popular culture, and the politicization of history in both North and South Korea.

EXPLORE

  • Why early history matters in our modern societies;
  • Why people care about origins;
  • Why disputes over ancient histories erupt between modern nations;
  • How the disciplines of history and archaeology work;
  • How history writing and group identity shape and reshape one another;
  • How nationalism informs interpretation of the past;
  • How international debates over ancient history are manifest in pop culure.