Week 1 (9/3): Introduction to Course

Week 2 (9/10): Understanding Media and Popular Culture in 20th Century Korea Robinson, Michael. “Introduction: Korea’s Turbulent Twentieth Century.” In Korea’s Twentieth Century Odyssey: A Short History, 1-7. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007.

Week 3 (9/17): Print/Broadcasting Culture Robinson, Michael. “Broadcasting, Cultural Hegemony, and Colonial Modernity in Korea, 1924- 1945.” In Colonial Modernity in Korea, eds. Gi-wook Shin and Michael Robinson, 52-69. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Week 4 (9/24): The Body and Performance Park, Sang Mi. “The Making of a Cultural Icon for the Japanese Empire: Choe Seung-hui’s U.S. Dance Tours and New Asian Culture: in the 1930s and 1940s.” positions: east asian cultures critique 14, no. 3 (2006): 597-632.

Week 5 (10/1): Postwar Korea and the Culture of Sound Pil Ho Kim & Hyunjoon Shin. “The Birth of ‘Rok’: Cultural Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Glocalization of Rock Music in South Korea, 1964-1975.” positions: east asia cultures critique 18, no. 1 (Spring 2010): 199-230.

Week 6 (10/8): NO CLASS_Chuseok: National Holiday

Week 7 (10/15): The Cultural Politics of Fashion Jin-kyung Park and Panawan Thanommongkol, “Shock of Daughters: Fashion, Unisex Style, and Gender Politics in South Korean Media (1970s-1980s),” Acta Koreana 23, no. 2 (December 2020): 79-102.

Week 8 (10/22): Midterm Examination

Week 9 (10/29): Globalization and Korean IT Industry Jin, Dal Yong. “Reinterpretation of Cultural Imperialism: Emerging Domestic Market vs. Continuing U.S. Dominance.” Media, Culture, and Society 29, no. 5 (2007): 753-771.

Week 10 (11/5): Cultural Policy and The Korean Wave Shim, Doobo. “Hybridity and the Rise of Korean Popular Culture in Asia.” Media, Culture & Society 28, no. 1 (2006): 25-44.

Week 11 (11/12): K-Pop Kyung Hyun Kim. “BTS and the World Music Industry.” In The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama edited by Youna Kim, pp. 107-117 (New York: Routledge, 2022).

Week 12 (11/19): Korean Film and Drama I Donghoon Kim. “Producers of Parasite and the Question of Film Authorship: Producing a Global Author, Authoring a Global Production.” In The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama edited by Youna Kim, pp. 41-53 (New York: Routledge, 2022).

Week 13 (11/26): Korean Film and Drama II Lisa Y. M. Leung. “Mediating Asian Modernities: The Lessons of Korean Dramas.” In The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama edited by Youna Kim, pp. 184-195 (New York: Routledge, 2022).  

Week 14 (12/3): Mobile Media and Webtoon Jin, Dal Yong. "Snack Culture's Dream of Big Screen Culture: Korean Webtoon's Transmedia Storytelling." International Journal of Communication 13 (2019): 2094-2115.

Week 15 (12/10): Final Course Review & Essay Submission - 1 page, typed essay reflecting on lecture themes and materials. Think over what you have learned through the class and how it has changed your views on Korean society

Week 16: Final Examination Date (TBA): Good Luck!

1) Mid-term Exam (30%): You will be asked to identify key terms and concepts from assigned readings and lecture materials. The midterm exam will be in-class and open book test.

2) Essay (10%): One-page essay reflecting on lecture themes and materials. Students will be asked to think over what they have learned through the class and how it has changed their views on Korean society.

3) Final Exam (60%): You will be asked to identify key terms, explain important concepts, and answer short essay questions, displaying your understanding of lecture and course materials, including assigned readings and films. Please keep in mind that the final examination is cumulative. The same as the midterm, the final exam will be in-class, open-book test. 

Articles and book chapters in pdf form will be available.