As part of an effort to build a system of shared courses with Korean content among Big Ten schools, the Big Ten Academic Alliance, with funding from the Korea Foundation and coordination from the University of Michigan, offers a series of area studies courses on a variety of Korean topics. These course offerings have small enrollments and are simulcast among multiple universities. The East Asian Studies Center and Institute for Korean Studies coordinate and support the offering of these courses at The Ohio State University. In Spring 2021, OSU will participate in the following courses:

Korean 5380: "Understanding Korea, Korean Society, and the Korean Language"

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1:30 - 2:50 p.m. EST
Taught by Prof. Susan Strauss of Pennsylvania State University and shared via videoconference with The Ohio State University and Michigan State University

Course Description: Discourse shapes how we see and understand the world, how we evaluate and express ideas, how we interact with others. Public discourse includes language, colors, font styles and sizes that we encounter in the public sphere every day of our lives. Public discourse in and from South Korean society provides a rich sampling that leads to new and deeper understandings of Korea, the Korean language, and Korean society. We will examine such public discourse as Youtube videos, TV shows, menus, news discourse, blogs, movie posters and trailers, speeches, album covers, public signage, storefronts, T-shirts, song lyrics, memes, and emoticons in South Korea, as well as Japan, China, and Taiwan.

Korean proficiency for this class may range from no prior knowledge of Korean to native/near-native/heritage speaker. It is preferable that students have some background in an East Asian language.

Korean 5256: "Making Places in Seoul: History of Urbanism and Development"

Wednesdays & Fridays, 2:20 - 3:40 p.m. EST
Taught by Prof. Pil Ho Kim of The Ohio State University and shared via videoconference with Michigan State University and Rutgers University

Course Description: Seoul is trying to become an attractive global city as the government and big business push for grand, flashy monuments and new, massive development projects. Meanwhile, rundown buildings and crooked alleyways are rediscovered and rehabilitated by young artists and cultural entrepreneurs. Often deplored as gentrification, the ongoing urban changes in Seoul prove to be much more significant and complex. This course will explore how they have come to represent different facets of Seoul’s urban culture in the past as well as in the present.

For Further Information

Students may register for the courses via Buckeye Link. Contact Professor Mitch Lerner, director of the East Asian Studies Center, with any questions.

These courses are made possible with the support of the Korea Foundation.