Gender in Korean History

This course introduces students to the gendered nature of Korean cultural history. Using primary sources from the archives, as well as literary works, films, museum exhibitions, ethnographic works and more, we will explore such topics as the fall of the Choseon Dynasty through the eyes of kisaeng (courtesans); same-sex love under Japanese colonial rule; collaboration with wartime Japan as a crisis of Korea’s male intellectual elite; gendered discourses of the American wars; US military camptowns as a site of love, exploitation and migration; gender, sexuality and race of K-pop; as well as migration and multiculturalism in South Korea today. Covering important flashpoints in modern and contemporary Korean history, this course will introduce students to multiple authentic, multimedia sources from the Koreas as we closely read the gender politics of historical change.