North Korean History

Catalog description

How can we approach North Korea beyond the narrow lens of immediate security concerns? How can we move past Cold War narratives about this socialist country, which persists in a post-Cold War world? How do we write cultural and social histories that transcend the usual top-down focus on the Kim family and the state? And how do we challenge the dominant view of North Korea as an isolated exception in global history? This course addresses these questions by examining North Korea's history, moving chronologically from its colonial origins to its present-day context in the post-Cold War era, yet with thematical variances. Rather than interpreting North Korea's historical developments solely as top-down products of the Kim family or state control, we will pay more attention to how a wide range of North Korean individuals have shaped their history through daily practices in their home, workplaces, schools, and leisure venues. By focusing on these everyday dynamics, the course seeks to challenge the stereotypical image of North Korea as a monolithic "totalitarian" state. By shifting the focus in this way, students are encouraged to engage with the political and social complexities of the socialist country beyond the constraints of the Cold War framework.