Hist 534-01/700-05: Korea Since 1700

https://dresnerkorea.edublogs.org

Prof. Jonathan Dresner e-mail: jdresner@pittstate.edu Phone: 235-4315 Office: RH 406F

Spring 2013 MWF 10-10:50am, RH 407 Office Hours: MWF 11-2, 1st TuTh10-12

Description

Korea in 1700 was a fairly typical Early Modern East Asian society: educated elites, growing economy and literacy, increasing contacts with other societies; Buddhist and Confucian beliefs, hereditary aristocracies, conservative bureaucratic governance, agricultural tax base. Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the government struggled with factionalism and reform, with an increasingly mercantile economy and with a changing global environment. Though the Korean government rejected Christianity and resisted modern diplomatic ties, late 19th century imperialism forced new ideas and new issues into the forefront. Japan, in particular, involved itself in Korean affairs, first as a trading and reformist presence, then competing with China and Russia for influence in Korea, ultimately forcing Korea into the Japanese empire for decades. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, Korea became a site of tension again, this time between the Cold War superpowers. Those tensions erupted into war, ultimately dividing the Korean people and peninsula into its present political configuration. North Korea has developed a resource-poor Stalinist state headed by a family dynasty; South Korea, after decades of autocratic leadership, has a dynamic participatory democracy and a sophisticated economy and modern culture.

The issues raised by Korea’s history are diverse and challenging, and the role of Korea on the world stage is not likely to diminish anytime soon. Textbook readings and lectures will be heavily supplemented by primary sources — literature, autobiography, Constitutions, oral histories – and secondary scholarship. Class discussion will be central to the course. The writing assignments will allow students to explore their specific interests and the exam will cover the readings and lecture material.

Textbooks

• Korea Old and New: A History, by Eckert, Lee, Lew, Robinson and Wagner. Harvard Korea Institute, 1991. ISBN 0962771309 or 978-0962771309
• A History of Korea: An Episodic Narrative, by Kyung Moon Hwang, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. ISBN 978-0-230-20546-8.
• Sources of Korean Tradition, Vol. 2: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries, edited by Choe, Lee, de Bary. Columbia University Press, 2000. ISBN 0231120311 or 978-0231120319
• Japanese Assimilation Policies in Colonial Korea, 1910-1945, by Mark E. Caprio, University of Washington Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-295-98901-3
• Bipolar orders: the two Koreas since 1989 By Hyung Gu Lynn. Zed Books, 2007. ISBN 1842777432 or 9781842777435

Course Application

Within the General Education requirements, this course counts towards the Human Heritage requirement. This course can also be applied to the History and History/Government majors as a World History course.

Course Goals

In addition to the historical and cultural content, students will demonstrate increasing mastery of critical reading of primary and secondary sources in writing and discussion. “Critical” does not mean “attacking” but “analytical”: putting material in historical and cultural context, drawing appropriate inferences and and deductions from the evidence of the text, and raising relevant questions for futher inquiry.

Course Website: https://dresnerkorea.edublogs.org

I will be using Canvas for announcements and assignments, but many course resources will be available through my public site listed above. Anything assigned for class will be linked from Canvas, but feel free to explore the other resources available. If Canvas is termporarily unavailable, this will be the backup for course materials. If Canvas becomes unavailable for an extended period of time, we’ll figure something out.

Advisory

History is about real people, diverse cultures, interesting theories, strongly held belief systems, complex situations, conflicts and often-dramatic actions. This information may be disturbing. Such is the nature of historical study.

Civility

Students are expected to behave respectfully towards their peers and instructor. Disruptive behavior, including failing to turn off cell phones during class, will result in participation penalties and possibly removal from the classroom. This does not mean that there can’t be lively discussions and disagreements, but personal attacks, excessive volume, threatening gestures or words, and failure to give others a chance to speak and be heard are not acceptable. This applies online as well as in class.

Changes

In the event of a disparity between the original syllabus and online schedule, the online schedule will be correct: I reserve the right to change readings, test dates, due dates, grade weights and assignments as necessary throughout the semester.

Technology in the classroom

The use of laptop computers, tablet computers, smartphones and other devices is not permitted.  While there are legitimate educational uses for these tools, most research on classroom use shows that they are more distracting than enabling, especially to fellow students. Students using computers or cell phones without permission will be asked to leave and will not get credit for attendance. Special exceptions may be made by the instructor only for disability accomodation and official note-takers.

The use of recording equipment, audio, photographic or video, or speech-to-text transcription software is not permitted. Arrangements may be made for students with documented disabilities. Students violating this restriction will be asked to leave and may face grade penalties and disciplinary action.

You should check your email at least daily: if you don’t use a university email account regularly, set it to forward mail to your preferred address. I check email regularly: you should hear back from me within 24 hours. If you send me an assignment, I will reply with an acknowledgement. If I don’t reply, I probably did not get the email: try again.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course. Plagiarism is the use of the words or ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism is intellectual theft; in an educational setting it is particularly repugnant. Plagiarism in my courses will be punished. It’s simple: Anytime you copy words into your own work, you must clearly mark them and acknowledge the source of those words. Anytime you use someone else’s ideas, you must admit it. There are three options: put it in quotation marks and footnote; paraphrase and footnote; or be original. If you have any questions or any concerns about citation format or necessity, ask someone who knows what they’re doing.

Other forms of academic misconduct will not be tolerated either, including the use of unauthorized aid on tests, failing to write one’s own papers, using papers for more than one course without permission. None of this precludes group study and discussion: those are actually really good ideas. For more detail, see the relevant sections of the University Catalog: http://www.pittstate.edu/audiences/current-students/policies/rights-and-responsibilities/academic-misconduct.dot.

Advising

Advising is a very important resource designed to help students complete the requirements of the University and their individual majors. Students should consult with their advisor at least once a semester to decide on courses, check progress towards graduation, and discuss career options and other educational opportunities. Advising is a shared responsibility, but students have final responsibility for meeting degree requirements.

Student Accommodation

Any student with a documented disability who would like to request accommodations should contact the instructor as early in the semester as possible. For more information, contact the Learning Center (Kelly D. Heiskell, 235-4309, kdheiske@pittstate.edu)

Syllabus Supplement

For more information on deadlines, severe weather policy, visas, grades, attendance, final exams, student support, etc. please see the University Catalog or the 2013 Spring Syllabus Supplement, available through the Registrar’s office:  http://www.pittstate.edu/office/registrar/forms.dot or directly at http://www.pittstate.edu/dotAsset/951abb38-06ee-4727-9356-fcdbf1bf497f.pdf

Assignments

All schedules, assignments, and policies in the syllabus are subject to change. Check the website, which will have the most current and accurate information possible, as well as copies of course handouts.

Reading

Reading assignments – textbooks, documents, etc. — must be done before class on the day indicated. I reserve the right to impose pop quizzes or other penalties if I feel the readings are being neglected. Discussion based on the readings will be the core of our activities.

Professionalism: Attendance, Preparation, and Participation

Absences may be excused for unusual school-related events (not athletic practices), illness or family-related problems, but only if I am informed in advance or you have documentation (such as a doctor’s note). Unexcused absences will affect your attendance grade.

This is not just a classroom: it is a work space, and you are adults. You are expected to be present and prepared for class time, not only physically but intellectually, and to carry out your assignments in a timely and careful fashion. You are responsible for keeping track of assignments, due dates, and announcements made through the course website.

The essence of scholarship is constructive engagement; the best learning comes from doing. It is very important that everyone keep up with the readings, and come to class prepared to think and talk and question and listen. Asking good questions is an important form of participation.

There will be homework assignments from time to time, such as the requirement that you find, fill out and email me the student information form after the first class. Those will be included in your attendance/participation grade.

Final Exam

The final will cover the entire course. It will be a take-home essay test.

Reviews

Undergraduates will pick scholarly or literary works on Korea since 1700 to review. You will have a great deal of freedom to pick topics, but articles must be from a scholarly journal or a chapter from an edited book collection: footnotes, primary sources, the whole works; journalistic articles are not acceptable. The book can be on any topic as well, but should be either a primary source in translation or serious investigative work (journalistic or academic). In addition to writing a review, students will briefly present a summary of the work to the class on the due date. See the Review assignment for more details.

Graduate Students will do the same reviews as the undergraduates, except that they will be responsible for writing two reviews for each due date (except the Caprio) and there is no upper length limit on graduate reviews.

Grades

• Grades for essays, etc., are generally recorded on a 4-point scale (A=4, C=2, etc.). In Canvas, grades will be indicated on the 100-point scale, as there’s no way to do the 4-point scale in Canvas, as near as I can tell, but my gradebook is the offiicial one.. I reserve the right to adjust grade scales upwards to reflect the performance of the class as a whole; I do not “curve” grades towards a target distribution, nor do I adjust grade scales downwards.
• Assignment format, requirements and due dates will be included in the assignment instructions: read them carefully, and ask questions well in advance of the due date if there is anything you do not understand. Submission deadlines will generally be at the beginning of class on the assigned date.
• If hard copy (printed) is required, email will only be accepted as proof of completion in emergencies: the student is still responsible to get a printed copy to the instructor as soon as possible. For assignments which are to be turned in by email, I will send a confirmation email; If you have not gotten one in a reasonable amount of time (a day or so), it is your responsibility to confirm that your assignment was received.
• In the event of an excused absence on an assignment due date, the student is responsible for turning in the work no later than the next class, unless other arrangements have been made.
• Unexcused late assignments, due to absence, technical problems, etc., will be penalized one-half grade level (5% on a 100-point scale) per class period late.
• Even very, very bad (or very late) work will get partial credit, which is a lot better than a zero Plagiarism or other violations of academic honesty will result in zero credit on that assignment and may result in an F or XF for the semester depending on circumstances.

Undergraduate

Professionalism	20%
Article Reviews (3)	25%
Caprio Review	10%
Book Review	15%
Final Exam Essays	30%

Graduate

Professionalism	10%
Article Reviews (6)	30%
Caprio Review	20%
Book Reviews (2)	20%
Final Exam Essays	20%