Introductory Session (July 6)

[Hilda Dixon]

I remember when I was an ESL student, my classmates and I talked about our cultures. During our friendly conversations, a Korean male classmate told us that Korean women take many of the financial jobs because there is an assumption that women are better with numbers.  He also told us about the strong devotion towards education, and that education is very competitive there. Lastly, he said that Korean people mostly drive Korean brands. As an ESL student I was interested in Korean culture, I learned to admire the bravery of the comfort women during the Japanese occupation.  I also learned that Korean people usually don’t like the tv series M*A*S*H while many Americans enjoy this tv show. What I truly like about Korean culture is that their beliefs are still intertwined to some degree to the spirits that live in the nature world, and as a result, there are beautiful detailed stories that give truth to these beliefs.

[Jonathon Allen]

Here are a few of my takeaways from the video and the infographic:

* I am excited to discuss the extent to which North Korean missiles and nuclear power is a threat to the United States.  I've attended several panels to hear professors debate this and the consensus is that it doesn't seem like a viable threat but those panels were several years ago.

* I love everything about the Korean language, from its origin story to how phoentically intuitive it is.  Driving in Koreatown here in Los Angeles is such a treat to see the script everywhere.  It really is motivation for me to learn the language one day (once I have a handle on Japanese.)

* Thank you for mentioning the many innovations that come from the Korean peninsula, from the 7th-century observatory to the movable metallic type printer.  This year, I am going to introduce the Jikji as the first of its kind because now it just seems Eurocentric to skip right to Gutenberg's Bible without giving credit to the major accomplishment in 1377.

* The role of women throughout Asia is certainly going to be interesting to me, as I work at a girls' school and I intend on making that a theme throughout the entire class.  Thank you for providing specific names of strong females who have left their mark on the political landscape of the Koreas.  I need to do more research on the #metoo movement in South Korea because I'm curious about the impact it did (or didn't) have on society.

* Small typo on the infographic under the North Korean flag:  "When WWI ended with an Allied victory in 1945 ..."

Looking forward to our discussion!

[April Wallace]

Great introduction into this region. Like some of my other peers, I hadn't realized the substantial role of women in Korean culture. In Minnesota, we have a standard regarding the status of women around the world. This would be interesting to compare the Korean woman's experience to that of women in the United States or in other cultures around the world. 

[Deborah Whetstone]

The Korean Names and their Meaning will be fantastic to help my AP Human Geography students practice with the concept of Topynym!  From various other PDs I've attended, as well as tutoring Korean adults in English two years ago, I was fortunately aware of much of the information regarding South Korea, but was surprised at how much North Korea is exporting to others, especially India given the US's diplomatic relations with them. One additional facet of South Korean culture I was surprised to learn about while tutoring was the dominance of meeting in the evening for dinner and drinks.  And as a native Floridian, I am incredibly jealous of how close Korea's beaches are to the mountains. 🙂

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Hi, Everyone,

Thank you for all your questions and comments. I hope those of you who were quietly observing today will have more to say on Thursday. Please post your quesitons and comments for Thursday, but please do bring them up during the live session as well. 

I am attaching the syllabi for my two courses on Korean women's history. 

The book/film I mentioned is: Kim Ji-young, Born 1982. The Enlgish translation is available on Amazon, and if you want to see the film, please email me at [email protected]. 

If you'd like to join the Zoom session on Korean popular culture on July 21, here's the link.

You are invited to a Zoom meeting. 

When: Jul 21, 2020 03:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://ucla.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEtc-GurTgtG9fo7wM_CXuGShXhtvZqnIeX 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

See you Thursday!

Best,

Jennifer 

 

 

 

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

I really like the simplicty of the infographics but you're right, they are a bit dated and because it's from a printed book, they are not updated annually. 

[Karen Keever]

I found the introduction to be informative and Interesting. I was actually surprised by the amount of significance that has been placed on women in the culture. There seems to me that honoring women is more prevalent than I have imagined in the past. Attmittingly, however, this is really my first time learning anything about Korea as a whole. What is also interesting to me are the significant inventions that have come from Korea. The Curriculum that I have taught recently places more of the inventions from China, and skims over Korean achievements. Also interesting to me is the clear differences between the two countries. South Korea being much more technologically advanced, and  North Korea, being a communistic dictatorship, tend to put the focus on the power of the government, with less emphasis on the advancement of individual people. The flags of the 2 countries also portray where the country is placing the emphasis. This would be a good infographic to help students visualize differences between the countries and have them create an understanding that can be seen when comparing different countries and how they can see how flag representations can be interpreted. 

 

[Meghann Seril]

Thank you for a very interesting discussion about the roles of women in South Korean society. I had not previously thought about the challenges of reunification of the two Koreas. We discussed some of the supports available to women who can afford it, but I was wondering if you could also share if the government provides any supports, especially for working moms? I am also wondering what the experience is like for women in North Korea. Thank you again for a robust discussion.

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Infant daycare doesn't seem that common in Korea, perhaps because many people think babies should be cared for at home. I think relatives may fill in the gap but often families may subsist off just the dad's income. Grandparents and extended family also may help more -- whether it's living in intergenerational families or helping out with childcare or financial support. 

Korea does also have a complex maternity/paternity leave system with the government giving subsidies to the company so an employer does not bear the full cost of family leave. 

[Jane Hannon]

The information provided in the discussion session about women’s lives in contemporary South Korea, especially the difficulty of combining a career with child-rearing and the idea that women require special care to recover from childbirth, makes an interesting contrast to the high and empowered status of women in ancient times. However, it appears that these strong ancestors remain influential. I was also interested to learn about women who had embraced the 3 No’s and the #MeTooWithYou movement. It appears that this history is not a straight line and unsurprisingly, issues related to gender remain complicated.

 

[Jane Hannon]

Having previously learned that both North and South Koreans have a strong and widespread desire for reunification, I appreciated learning about the nuanced attitudes that exist toward this topic. Apparently younger people often prioritize maintaining peace and attitudes may differ based on family relationships or land claims in the North. Additionally, it was interesting to learn that defectors from the North can find it difficult to adjust to life in South Korea and even encounter discrimination. The comparison to the reunification of Germany helped to illustrate some of the challenges that would occur in the event of reunification of of the peninsula.

 

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

"... there is an assumption that women are better with numbers..." That's awesome. 

[Author]

Posts