Jung-Kim - The Korean Wave (Wed)

[Anonymous]

It was great to hear how Social Studies teachers would use the material to day in their classrooms. I specially liked how you can create 3 groups and make them each a different country, Japan, Korea and China, and make students come up with a way to represent each country as their final product. There were great ideas I really appreciated that.

[Anonymous]

Learning about Hallyu (in both the readings and today in class) was fascinating. What I found especially interesting is how intentional (as a commodity) it has become, rather than an organic by product of the diaspora. The layers of government support pop culture and intellectual property in South Korea receives is interesting to say the least. The socialist/nationalistic motivations combined with the capitalistic business models is similar to China in many respects, yet doesn't carry a lot of social equity issues that China presents with its self-promotion. The back channel economic infrastructure and government oversight in both South Korea and China feel similar (from my rather naive perspective) but the content and sentiment attached to the content is wholly different. I wonder how intentional that is?

Is how South Korean pop culture is produced and distributed more of a response to Japan, China or U.S.? On the surface I would assume it's a direct response to how Japan has treated the country, but I don't know enough about the history of the Korean peninsula. Why hasn't China done the same?

[Anonymous]

Two topics I'm definitely interested in learning more about and challenging my students to dive into are:
1) Military Stew
2) Mongolian & Korean connection

I think these two topics would be good gateways into learning about the history of Korea. I had no idea the Korean written language had ties to Mongolia (as obvious it might seem to others). Regarding the military stew, my interest was especially sparked with the mention of SPAM in the video clip. Spam has an interesting history, at least in Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for this lecture on Korean culture and how big it has become. Learned how Korean has influenced has gone international with its music, drama, movies and products. During the lecture I wrote down all the movies mentioned because I plan on seeing them for my film review. Like many other people, I too was introduced by K-pop through my family. Interesting to learn that most middle age women watch dramas because that is how I was introduced to it by my mother. It may also be that most middle age women are housewives and have time to watch dramas at home, I know I would if I had the time.

As mentioned by another teacher here, I can see myself teaching Korea by doing a group project with my students. I was thinking about how I can write different subjects on Korea on a piece of paper and having kids randomly choose them. Then students would create a PowerPoint on their topic where they will teach to the class. Afterwards, students can then choose to make an artwork on what they learned by using any media of their choice. This lesson would be great for students to learn and get introduced to Korean culture, if they haven’t already had some. This lesson would most likely be best for my AP Studio Art students who are asked to show mastery in different media of their choice.

[Anonymous]

Until today I had thought that my students' interest in K-pop and K-drama was a "fad." Now I realize it is an amazing way to learn about new and diverse culture, which is important for social learning/education. Too often our students, especially those from at-risk communities, only have exposure to their own ethnic backgrounds and maybe one or two others. As teachers, we are a diverse group, but how often do we really share and teach about our own cultures to our students? Music, television, and movies are a wonderful way to give our students exposure to a new environment and it is our job to make sure we use this to help them understand that there are many diverse cultures out there worth learning about.

[Anonymous]

In the pass 10 to 20 years, I had very good time with my mom and girl friends with Korean dramas. My mom and I watch "Jewel in the Palace" for one week 8 hours a day, when she visited me. My girl friends were talked about those actors and actress in Korean dramas, whoever know more who is most popular person for that party.
I surprised those Korean drama are popular in US and world wide too.
I believe, put these drama into my lesson will get more attention from students.

[Anonymous]

Is always a pleasure to hear Professor Jennifer Jung-Kim, speak about Korea. It is interesting how popular K-pop is among Hispanics as well as Koreans and others. I personally don't like K-pop, but I understand why is popular. Also, I thought it was interesting how at one point China was the center of civilization in East Asia.

[Anonymous]

@egonzalez, "[font=Times, "Times New Roman", serif]now I'm wondering, does this wave actually portray the culture of S. Korea in accurate manner? Are their true values shown through these dramas and pop-singers/band?" So are you asking, what is the real Korea? The answer to this question might be difficult for even a resident of Korea to answer. I see it all part and parcel of the Korea brand. Many countries are moving or aspiring to move in the direction of post-industrialization and a part of that is creating a globally recognized brand. Korean history, art and literature is another story that at times may or may not intersect with the Korean wave.[/font]

[Anonymous]

@cindyn, all the girls in my family are huge fans. Before Korean products like Sanyo were considered second to Japanese and American goods, but I think Korean brands now are all on equal footing in Vietnam.

[Anonymous]

@jschlip "[font=Times, "Times New Roman", serif]I'll definitely be bringing this to my classes, especially the new 7th grade "honors" group. I'll ask them to read selections from the Analects and have them apply to their lives & why they are still important even though the ideas are over 2600 years old." Will you let me know how this goes?I'm constantly thinking about how Confucian ethics fits into the moral code of teens and preteens. [/font]

[Anonymous]

@yyan, "Chinese bought the copyright of Running Man. The Chinese edition Running Man is also very popular in China. It is also composed of 7 members: 6 men and 1 female. They are all Chinese stars." Interesting...do you follow Chinese television and movies? All I know are a couple of names of popular titles.

[Anonymous]

We need to teach our young people about individualism and being true to yourself, doing the best they can and taking responsibility for their actions. I would like to use some of these examples for my students to discuss their values and what is important in their lives.

[Anonymous]

From 2006-09 I was living and working in Japan teaching English. I am half Japanese and half Korean and when I arrived to Japan I almost felt at odds with my two sides. As people began to understand who I was and what my background was, they became more interested in my mixed background. Of course, the two countries had a history of conflict and many older Koreans still felt animosity towards the Japanese. However instead of seeing and/or experiencing any sort of ill-will towards Koreans and their culture in Japan, all I saw and experienced was great admiration for it. I lived in a small village of about 3,000 people and soon found out that a Japanese man had married a Korean woman, had children, and were living down the street. What a surprise this was in such a small little village in the middle of nowhere. I also realized how much the Korean pop culture had invaded Japanese society, especially when I visited the video/games rental stores. The first display I saw upon entering any video store was "Fuyu no Sonata" (Winter Sonata). It was so very popular and all of my female Japanese colleagues (40-50 years of age) were always talking about it! The Korean wave my be reaching its peak here in the US now, but in Japan it has been a constant, and unending, wave!

[Anonymous]

It is no secret that Western society has always had a fascination with the East. We can go back in history and consider the desire by Europeans for exotic eastern goods (silk, sugar, pepper, cotton, porcelain, etc). This fascination and intrigue has been continous but only highlited by key events like Columbus seeking a passage east, The Beatles seeking enlightenment, or our fascinaiton with K-Pop. It seems the 1980s-90s was Japan's turn to be highlighted (their automotive industry, their electronics, and sushi). I guess it is now Korea's turn to be in the spotlight.

[Anonymous]

http://remezcla.com/features/music/k-pop-latinos/

• I was very interested to hear Professor Kim’s presentation on the Korean wave because Korean culture is increasingly becoming a prominent thing in Los Angeles. For example, my school has a student body that is 99% Latino, but even within this context the growing interest in Korean culture is evident in that there is a K-pop club at my school. Additionally, just a few weeks ago I read the article in the link above which reports that aside from Koreans, Latinos constitute the second largest group of fans of K-pop here in the US. There is a lot to learn from the Latino music scene here in the US, and particularly the singers who have crossed over to the English markets. It seems that a lot of K-pop artists seem to be heading in this direction and it would be interesting to make a comparison between K-pop and crossover music in my Spanish class.

edited by nramon on 8/3/2016

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