Korean studies

Korean studies or Koreanology is an academic discipline, focusing on the study of Korea including the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Korean history, Korean culture, Korean literature, Korean art, Korean music, Korean language and linguistics, Korean sociology and anthropology, Korean politics, Korean economics, Korean folklore, Korean ethnomusicology and increasingly study of Korean popular culture. It may be compared to other area studies disciplines, such as American studies and Chinese studies. Korean studies is sometimes included within a broader regional area of focus including: "East Asian studies" or "Asian studies."

The term Korean studies first began to be used in the 1940s, but did not attain widespread currency until South Korea rose to economic prominence in the 1970s. In 1991, the South Korean government established the Korea Foundation to promote Korean studies around the world.

Korean studies was originally an area of study conceived of and defined by non-Koreans. Korean scholars of Korea tend to see themselves as linguists, as sociologists, as historians, not as "Koreanists" unless they have received at least some of their education outside Korea and are academically active (for example publishing and attending conferences)in languages other than Korean (most Korean studies publications are in English but there is also a significant amount of Korean Studies activity in other European languages), or work outside Korean academia. In the mid-2000s Korean universities pushing for more classes taught in English began to hire foreign-trained Koreanists of Korean and non-Korean origin to teach classes, often geared towards foreigners in Korean graduate schools. There are now graduate school programs in Korean Studies (mostly active at the MA level) in most of the major Korean universities. BA programs in Korean Studies have now been opened at two Korean universities. The BA programs are distinctive in that they have few foreign students.

• The Academy of Korean Studies (한국학중앙연구원, AKS) est.1978
• The Korea Research Foundation (한국학술진흥재단, KRF) est.1981
• The Korea Foundation (한국국제교류재단) est.1991.
• The Advanced Center for Korean Studies (한국국학진흥원, ACKS) est.1995.

Notable centers of Korean studies outside Korea

A-Z order

• Beijing Foreign Studies University — School of Asian and African Studies
• University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada - Centre for Korean Studies
• University of California, Berkeley — Center for Korean Studies
• University of California, Los Angeles — Center for Korean Studies
• University of Chicago — Center for East Asian Studies
• Columbia University — Center for Korean Research
• Harvard University — Korea Institute
• University of Hawaii — Center for Korean Studies
• Indiana University - East Asian Studies Center
• Indiana University Bloomington - Center for Korean Studies
• University of Leeds - Korea Research Hub, UK, Leeds
• University of London School of Oriental and African Studies — Centre of Korean Studies
• Far Eastern Federal University — Oriental Institute - School of Regional and International Studies
• University of Michigan — Nam Center for Korean Studies
• National Museum of Ethnology (Japan)
• Ohio State University
• University of Pennsylvania — Center for East Asian Studies
• University of Sheffield — School of East Asian Studies
• Tenri University — Department of Foreign Languages
• University of Tokyo — Department of Korean Studies
• University of Toronto — Centre for the Study of Korea
• Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City — Faculty of Korean Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities
• University of Washington - Korea Studies Program, East Asia Studies, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
• Yale University — East Rock Institute
• Le Centre de Recherches sur la Corée (CRC ou « Centre Corée ») de l’EHESS

Korean Studies Programs in Korea

A-Z order

• Academy of Korean Studies - this is only a graduate school with no undergraduate program
• Dong-A University - Graduate School of International Studies
• Ewha Womans University B.A. degree program (Scranton College, Division of International Studies, Department of Korean Studies) and M.A. degree program (Graduate School of International Studies, Department of Korean Studies)
• Hankuk University of Foreign Studies — Undergraduate program and Graduate program
• Hanyang University - Graduate School of International Studies
• Korea University - Graduate School of International Studies
• Pusan National University - Graduate School of International Studies
• Sangmyung University - The Graduate School, Division of Humanities and Social sciences, Department of Korean Studies
• Seoul National University - Graduate School of International Studies
• Sogang University - Global Korean Studies B.A. degree program part of the School of Integrated Knowledge
• Yonsei University - Graduate School of International Studies

Academic Journals

• Journal of Korean Studies (JKS) University of Washington, Seattle.
• Korean Studies (KS) University of Hawaii.
• Korea Journal Korean National Commission for UNESCO, Seoul, South Korea.
• Acta Koreana Keimyung University, Daegu.
• Chosen Gakuho: Journal of the Academic Association of Koreanology in Japan Tenri University.
• Korean Culture and Society Association for the Study of Korean Culture and Society.

Associations for Korean Studies overseas

• The Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE)
• British Association for Korean Studies (BAKS)
• Academic Association of Koreanology in Japan
• Association for the Study of Korean Culture and Society (Japan)

Koreanists

The term Koreanists indicates academic scholars of Korean language, history, culture, society, music, art, literature, film and more. Noted Koreanists are usually adept in Korean, even if they are citizens of foreign countries.

Notable early Koreanists include James Scarth Gale, William E. Skillend and Richard Rutt.

Notable scholars of Korean music, dance, and performance include Lee Hye-ku, Song Bangsong, Keith Howard, Hwang Byungki, Lee Duhyon, and Lee Byongwon.

Notable scholars of Korean folklore, anthropology, and sociology include Roger Janelli, Shin Gi-wook, Nancy Abelmann, Laurel Kendall, Mutsuhiko Shima, Choi Chungmoo and Shimpei Cole Ota.

Notable scholars of Korean religion include Robert Buswell Jr. (for Buddhism), Michael Kalton (for Confucianism), Donald Clark and Donald Baker (both historians with publications related to Christianity) and James Huntley Grayson.

Notable historians of Korea include Bruce Cumings, Martina Deuchler, James Palais, Carter Eckert, Roger Tennant, Lew Young Ick, John Duncan, Michael Robinson, JaHyun Kim Haboush, Charles K. Armstrong, Lee Kibaek, Edward W. Wagner, and others.

Notable Korean archaeologists include Gina Barnes and Bae Kidong.

Notable scholars of Korean literature include David McCann, Peter H. Lee, Yang Hi Choe-Wall, Kyeong-Hee Choi, and Brother Anthony of Taize, .

Notable Koreanists who work on studies of the DPRK include Andrei Lankov, Charles Armstrong.

See also

• Korean Wave (Koreanophile)
• List of Korea-related topics
• List of academic disciplines
• North Korean studies

Notes

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External links

• The Korea Foundation, Seoul 한국국제교류재단
• krf.or.kr, The Korea Research Foundation 한국학술진흥재단
• Academy of Korean Studies, Seoul and Korean Studies Net. 한국학중앙연구원
• Korean Studies Portal 한국학 포털 (Frank Hoffmann)
• Yuldo.net: A Korean Studies Site