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Home › Forums › Summer Institutes › Exploring East Asian Visual Culture, Summer 2018 › Friday, August 3, morning session - Korean Cultural Center
Nira Sun.
Carissa Sadlier(Post add: I'm in the back, middle, behind Jane, in the blue shirt with sunglasses)
I really enjoyed the Korean Cultural Center. Our guide was highly knowledgeable and I was fascinated to learn so much about how fast this incredible culture has grown and about its past. One of the topics I found most exciting was the Korean language.
The Korean language was founded in 1446 by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty. The language was originally adopted from Chinese characters and though it worked for the nobles it was difficult for the average citizen to learn. Because the people could not be understood well enough with the language there was a large population that was illiterate.
Originally Sejong created the alphabet using 28 letters for the alphabet but not only 24 characters are used. The language is called Hangul and is easy to learn because the letters reflect the actual sounds made with the speaking organs. At present there are 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
Because the why, purpose and creator of the writing system is known and its originality and scientific qualities, the language was recognized by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on its Memory of the World Heritage.
Hangul would be an easy, fun way to bring the culture of Korea into the classroom.
clay dube
What a good-looking group! Please follow Carissa and add your thoughts about the KCC resources and ideas. Please begin your post, though, by helping everyone identify you. Please say "I'm third from the right in the back row" or whatever. I greatly regret not getting a group shot at USC. I guess we just need to gather together again for another workshop or seminar. 🙂
clay dubeHi Folks,
Here's a second photo, taken before the one posted above. Not everyone is as visible as we'd like, but please do post your comments about KCC and please do tell us where you are in this photo.
http://www.kccla.org/english/home.asp
Courtney HendrixI found our discussion on the Korean Letters very interesting and I found it especially beautiful how the symbowls the vowels are created from represent a mixture of heaven, earth, and human. I would like my students to get a chance to study the lettering more and incorporate that somehow in their artwork or as a calligraphy style lesson.
Along with that I was also interested in how our guide talked about the process of making paper from the mulberry bark and am looking into ways for my students to create their own paper using a similar technique.
Akunna UkaAkunna Uka-I'm wearing a white sleeveless shirt with floral print.
I was lucky enough to attend the week long seminar at the Korean Cultural Center, and I solidified some important ideas in Korean culture. I plan to celebrate Hangul day with my East Asia students next year. Celebrating the day will be an opportunity to share Korean food and explain why the Koreans are so proud of their letter system. It is also an opportunity to discuss the relationship between China and Korea pre 16th century.
Juana EvinkI'm the second from the right, wearing a white shirt. The visit to the Korean Cultural Center, was entertainning. I have been there before, yet everytime there is somethig new to see like the action figures. I think my students will greatly enjoyed a visit to the KCC, specially the K-Pop recording piece. My favorite part of the visit was the first floor gallery. I'm a history teacher, so history timelines are my favorite thing, and the art work was also great to see.
Juan Liebana-MenaI had a great time at the Korean Cultural Center on Friday morning. These two field trips were the perfect closure to a great week where I learned a lot about East Asian Visual Culture. The presentation about Korea was really impressive and well organized and really got me interested and wanting to learn more about South Korea and, in particular, about the economic plan that made the country grow from a more humble economic hegemony to a world superpower status in such a short period of time.
The fact that Jeju Island is of the wonders of the world came as a surprise. I didn’t know South had one of these seven wonders. I have some research and, the island is not only a world heritage place in terms of fauna, flora and landscape; but it’s also home to some quite modern electrical plants and naval bases. The island looks astonishing and I would love to visit the lava tubes in Manjang Cave.
The part of the presentation and further analysis about Korean language was really surprising too. For some reason, I always associated Korean language as quite complex and emanating from a lot of traditional words and writing that only made it possible to learn by heart. However, I was surprised when I learned about how scientific and precise Korean language really is. The presenter explanation and phonological examples were very simple and made it all look very easy to learn.
The exhibitions on the second and first floors were very well organized and appealing to any type of visitors. I really liked the artwork, video descriptions and pictures of the second floor exhibition. I particularly liked the traditional string instruments and the time line depicting important global events that took place in South Korea such as the 1988 Olympic Games, the 2002 World Cup with Japan, or the G20 World Summit in 2010. The exhibit on the first floor was about modern culture, which I think would be something that my students would really like as it provided information about iconic movies, artists, and events such as the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Finally I really liked how the Government of Korea has many of these cultural centers all over the world and how they spread Korean culture and success, which I think is a quite clever way to bridge both cultural and economic relationships in today’s global market. I think this is a way of soft power that comes from the government down but that really puts Korean people and culture first as global ambassadors of their country.
Jessica RodarteThe Korean Cultural center had many amazing artifacts and we were presented with good information on the culture of Korea. However, I was very struck with the lack and vagueness of information on the politics and history of Korea. Despite appreciating that we were able to see and hear about great cultural information, I couldn't shake the feeling that most of the information presented was part of a very specific agenda by the Korean government. If I'm being completely honest, I found it very strange to not hear more detailed information on the history and politics given that culture always happens in the context of history and politics. That said, I was glad that I learned about the landscapes of Korea and about the areas that are now considered Heritage sites, along with the technology work. I am now more curious about learning more information on the Heritage sites and on the technologies being advanced in Korea.
Jessica RodarteNot sure why this posted twice. Website is being weird and I can't delete it. My apologies.
The Korean Cultural center had many amazing artifacts and we were presented with good information on the culture of Korea. However, I was very struck with the lack and vagueness of information on the politics and history of Korea. Despite appreciating that we were able to see and hear about great cultural information, I couldn't shake the feeling that most of the information presented was part of a very specific agenda by the Korean government. If I'm being completely honest, I found it very strange to not hear more detailed information on the history and politics given that culture always happens in the context of history and politics. That said, I was glad that I learned about the landscapes of Korea and about the areas that are now considered Heritage sites, along with the technology work. I am now more curious about learning more information on the Heritage sites and on the technologies being advanced in Korea.
Stella Castrofirst of all i want to sy that i am the one in the baseball cap on the right side of the photograph. You realy can not see my face due to the baseball. I should of taken it off:)
Today was such a learning experience for me. First of all I want to say that earlier this summer I took the Korean Culture seminar, ( which was also a wonderful experience as thus Visual culture one), and during the Korean seminar they talked about Mr. Ahn Chang Ho, who was a leader of the Korean American immigrant community, I found this man to be fascinating, and during of their lectures they mentioned that Mr. Ho has his residence at USC, I had always wanted to find it and look at where this man resided, but hadn’t’ had the opportunity to do so. So when Mr. Dube asked us if we wanted to takea mini field trip, we walked a couple of steps west. There it was Mr. Ho’s former residence. Mr. Clay made my day and we hadn’t even left USC campus yet. But here I was star struck even though Mr. Ho was not a movie star, nor were we in a movie theatre of any sort or type. However that is how I felt, and to which my feeling s were appropriate in the sense that we have been talking about films, movies and the visual art culture if Asia. I was in awe! Then we went on to the Korean Culture center in LA, and there we were shown a video of Korea, with many interesting facts and features. We also learned that Koreans use mulberry trees for paper to make Hanji (paper). Our Hostess, (pardon me I did not catch her name), described the process of making Hanji, which was very interesting. Our Hostess also told us that it is very easy to learn to read Korean, and that most people can learn to read Korean in one day. I found this impressive but hard to believe, but the only way to prove this to myself, is to actually go and take lessons on how to read Korean. We then walked around the museum part of this Cultural center, and they had very nice and neat artifacts on/of the Korean culture. They also had facades of the Asian residences. I believe one was Japanese, as I recall going on a field trip to the Huntington Library and our decent telling us that Japanese homes just have the essentials of what they need, and then at night or whenever their guests leave they put things away. So in one of these facades it was very minimal and had scarce furniture and that is why I think/thought one of these was a Japanese dwelling. We then walked over next door, where we were able to experience and see things, such as replicas of cartoon characters, toys, such as transformers look alike, a K-Pop exhibit, and a 3-D simulated experiences, such as going down mountain on skis/toboggan, a virtual walk around Korea, such as in the market place, (although some of these did not work), and a video gaming table/console where one can play games. It was a fun place to visit.
What I can teach my students in regards to/ with this field trip first and foremost is safety, bus and community rules, how to follow directions/ instructions, how to be behave in a public place. We can do research before a field trip about the locale we are to visit, the culture, the foods, etc. We can also research traditional dress and costumes, as well as holidays, traditions and special events, like tea ceremonies, weddings, etc.
Mayra BradyI'm at the left with a burgundy dress and hand on my waist.
What a great day! I have been to many museums in Los Angeles, but never to these two interesting museums. The Korean presenter was very knowledgeable. She had only been here in the United States for six months and loves LA. After seeing the video on Seoul, Korea, it looks like LA with the tall skyscrapers and busy roads. This museum had many artifacts that little kids can enjoy and I think it would be a great field trip to take students.
Martin CastilloHi. I am in the back row being kicked by the red-hatted green elephant. (*o*)
The introduction to the KCC was wonderful. The video gave a very general view of Korean culture. I for one am interested in Korean Medieval history. The many contributions made by Koreans were evident in the video. I found the information about the woodblocks and its connection to Buddhism very interesting. As in some cultures, literacy and the writing of the religions canons go hand in hand. Despite the fact that Korea developed its own form of writing, it is still worth mention how China, Japan, and Korea are interconnected. In class it would be a good lesson to point out to students the difference between Chinese character writing, Japanese writing, (kanji, hiragana, katakana) and Korean writing.
The downstairs exhibition was also wonderful. It provided a more modern view of Korea. In addition, it is a good way to hook student with modern happenings in Korea. Most non-Asian students cannot differentiate the various Asian cultures, let alone the East Asian cultures who share a lot. Also, the exhibition provided pamphlets and maps that can be given to students as pseudo realia.
Martin CastilloPerhaps a little too glamorized view of Pyongyang/DPRK, but a good intro to the DPRK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRidQJQLrs
