Language, the University, and American Studies in Korea

Bibliographic Data

ID2978670
AuthorsMinjung Kim (0000-0002-1403-8961, corresponding author), Min-Jung Kim (0009-0007-4721-5825)
Year2005
Volume57
Issue2
Pages439-462
Publication date2005-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0678 • E-ISSN: 1080-6490
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/aq.2005.0030
OpenAlexW2058333096
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited12

American studies in Korea has emerged as an area of study out of a set of contradictions: the desire to study the English language and to train U.S. specialists who will be players in international business and relations, yet in the context of an ambivalent interest in and suspicion about American culture.1 American studies is a relatively new academic discipline in Korea; most of the programs have begun within the last ten years. American studies in Korea can be roughly categorized as follows: academic departments that offer bachelor's degrees in American studies; undergraduate programs with American studies as a "cross-disciplinary major/minor" (usually in schools without an American studies department); graduate schools of international/area studies that grant master's degrees in an American studies specialization; university-affiliated American studies/North American studies institutes; and international/ area studies institutes with American studies sections.2 There may be several reasons for the low visibility of American studies in Korea. First of all, among university faculty in Korea, there generally tends to be suspicion of a field composed of different disciplines, particularly at the undergraduate level: it is not regarded as a serious and specialized "academic" major and study, but as merely an eclectic combination of concentrations. Second, with existing American studies departments in Korea devoting a substantial part of their curriculum to language training, such as is characteristic of language institutes, the raison-d'être of American studies in the university can be brought into question. Administrators and faculty who have actually sought to establish an American studies department reveal that, in fact, it is precisely for the emphasis on language and its multidisciplinary nature that their efforts are met with resistance from other departments.3 Prospective university students may be drawn to American studies for the language training and social sciences. Third, constituting a department with a faculty of various disciplines may not be so simple. Many scholars would prefer to be in traditional disciplinary arrangements as their primary affiliation, viewing an interdisciplinary department as a shift in emphasis and focus from a specialized, [End Page 439] distinguishable field (such as American literature) to a larger, less defined "America." Being in American studies would mean, for instance, fewer challenging upper-level courses to teach and fewer students who would pursue further study in American literature. Finally, institutionalizing "American" studies in Korea is bound to invite concern and criticism. For faculty as well as students, to be in "American" studies may require some justification or explanation, because of U.S. involvement in the Korean peninsula and its continuing military presence in other parts of the world. Yet, the scarce presence, the relatively brief history, and the uneven distribution of American studies as departments and programs in Korean universities do not indicate that there is little interest in it. The study of various aspects of U.S. society and culture is being conducted in international/area studies programs and individual departments in the humanities and the social sciences. Moreover, at a forum on teaching American studies hosted by the American Studies Association of Korea (ASAK) in 2003, quite a few in the audience commented that their schools were considering developing American studies as a cross-disciplinary major and concentration, without having American studies as a department.4 And many participants shared that they were faced with the task of teaching courses on "American culture" in literature departments. One or another aspect of American studies is increasingly being incorporated in Korean universities, but notably, without privileging and legitimizing it as the organizational unit in the university, a highly selective space that enjoys a special position in Korea. The very difficulty of validating American studies as an academic department is suggestive of its challenges in Korea, a nation characterized by a complicated mixture of identification with and dissociation from, as well as admiration for and resentment toward, the United States. Its history and formation will reveal that American studies in Korea is inseparable

American studies · Asian American studies · Bachelor · Context (archaeology · Curriculum · Discipline · Humanities · International studies · Latino studies · Media studies · Minor (academic · Political science · Sociology · Academic Freedom and Politics · Gender Studies · History · Law · University Challenges and Reforms

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