Advanced Topics in History (320-0-1)

Topic

Korean War Legacies

Instructors

Ji-Yeon Yuh
847/467-6538
Harris Hall - Room 306 (Winter 2021 - Remote)

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

This course is an upper-level seminar that focuses on the legacies of the Korean War in three broad areas: how nations wage war, how nations remember war, and the consequences of war for migration and creating new categories of people. The course offers an upside-down examination of the Korean War that highlights the narratives of Korean people, be they North Koreans, South Koreans, adoptees, mixed race Koreans, Korean Americans, Zainichi, or North Korean refugees. It begins with an examination of the physical devastation of the war and the targeted use of methods and materials such as carpet bombing and napalm and then moves to a discussion of the ideological warfare tactics honed in the war's interrogation rooms. After a brief discussion of the two nation-states that emerged from the war, the course delves into the new categories of Koreans created by the war: Amerasians, adoptees, military brides, and Zainichi returnees to North Korea. The course concludes with an examination of the Korean War in memory, both collective and individual. The course draws on oral history interviews conducted by the instructor with military brides in the United States, Zainichi Koreans in Japan, and North Korean refugees in China and the Chicago area and will include several assignments asking students to listen to and interpret interview excerpts.

Class Materials (Required)

You are responsible for acquiring the required books. Most articles and chapters will be available under Files in Canvas.

Monica Kim, The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War, 2019

Cumings, Bruce. North Korea: Another Country. New York: New Press, 2004.

Crystal Mun-hye Baik, Reencounters: On the Korean War and Diasporic Memory Critique. 2020

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area