From Palaces to Sky Parks: A Historical Tour of Modern Korea.

Catalog description

This course will explore the historical development of modern Korea from 1876 to 2000. These developments included a forcible break from dynastic traditions, Japanese colonization, the Korean War and postwar reconstruction in the Cold War era. In particular, the course will use historical and commemorative sites in Seoul as focal points by which to access major developments and themes in this history such as modernity, colonialism, war, division of the peninsula, industrialization, urbanization, democratization, and globalization. Through examinations of these sites, the course will also raise questions on how the past is remembered, which narratives are emphasized and left out, and thereby discuss issues of historiography as well as collective memory in South Korea. Ahead of each site visit, the course will build historical contexts for these sites through lectures and close analyses of primary and secondary sources.