Join us for a three-part seminar series exploring more than fifty years of profound transformation on the Korean peninsula. The Korea Series traces the historical, political, social, and cultural forces that reshaped Korea from the final decades of the Joseon dynasty through Japanese colonial rule, liberation, national division, the Korean War, and the 1953 armistice. Together, the series offer educators a deep understanding of how Korea navigated colonialism, competing visions of nationhood, war, and the upheavals of the first half of the twentieth century.
The series begins on November 2 with Korea before Division: Late Joseon, Colonial Rule, and Resistance, examining Korea at the turn of the twentieth century, the impact of Japanese colonial rule, and the independence movements and forms of resistance that emerged at home and abroad. On November 9, Division, War, Memory, and National Identity in Korea continues the story through liberation in 1945, the ideological and political divisions that followed, the establishment of separate states, the Korean war, and the 1953 armistice, while considering how division and war have shaped memory and national identity on the Korean Peninsula. The series concludes on December 10 with The Korean War: Exploring a Cold War Conflict Through Global and Local Perspectives, which takes a closer look at the Korean War as both a civil conflict and a major Cold War flashpoint.
By connecting these pivotal periods rather than examining them in isolation, the Korea Series invites educators to trace the threads linking colonialism, resistance, liberation, division, and war—and to consider how this turbulent half-century continues to shape the identities and landscape of Korea today. Participants will gain historical context and perspectives that can enrich classroom discussions of modern Korea and the broader history of East Asia.
The Korea Series is led by Jennifer Jung-Kim, who teaches Korean and East Asian history at UCLA. Her research and teaching focus on modern Korea, and she is the senior editor of the Korean Classics Library series. In addition to lecturing in UCLA's Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and International and Area Studies program, she is actively involved in promoting K-12 education on Asia and has received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award.
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