한국국제교류재단

The Korean Studies Program (KSP) was founded in 1995 at the University of Michigan. Be that as it may, in seven short years, KSP has emerged as one of the most vibrant centers of Korean Studies in North America.

The belated birth of KSP belies the long history of Korean Studies at the University. In addition to the numerous and distinguished alumni and alumnae from Korea as well as the countless theses and dissertations on Korean history and culture written in Ann Arbor, the University had been offering courses in Korean language and other Korea-related courses long before KSP was founded, principally in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.

Currently KSP comprises six core faculty members. Two lecturers in Korean language－Jee-hyun Park and Chang-yong Choi－offer a panoply of courses on Korean language. The director of the language program, Professor Eun-su Cho, is a distinguished scholar of Korean Buddhism. Professor Henry Em is one of the leading historians of the colonial period. Professor Meredith Woo-Cumings is not only the leading authority on South Korean political economy but also one of the leading comparative political scientists of her generation. I have published extensively on the South Korean political economy and the Korean diaspora.

In addition, there are numerous faculty members on campus interested in Korean Studies. Professor E. Han Kim is best known for his pathbreaking work on finance but maintains an active interest in Korean affairs. Two film scholars, Professor Frances Gateward and Professor Abe Mark Nornes, teach and write about Korean film. Professor Jong-Jin Kim is an expert on architecture and urban planning. There are many faculty members who have an ongoing engagement with Korean Studies.

Vibrant Korean Studies Program
The vibrant nature of Korean Studies at Michigan is easy to see. The Colloquium Series, generously funded by the Korea Foundation, draws scores of people. This academic year, our speakers have ranged from an expert on North Korea, Professor Charles Armstrong of Columbia University, to a leading Korean-American artist, Professor David Chung of George Mason University. KSP has also sponsored major international conferences, including the highly successful conference on “Colonialism and Nationalism” organized by Professor Em. Its proceedings will soon appear as a book from Council of East Asian Studies, Harvard University.

KSP maintains cordial ties to other area centers at Michigan, especially the world-renowned Center for Chinese Studies and the outstanding Center for Japanese Studies. The University has an exchange agreement with Yonsei University and Ewha Womans University in South Korea. There are other plans to forge more institutional ties.

What has propelled the rapid growth of Korean Studies at the University of Michigan is a confluence of fortunate factors. As I have noted, Michigan’s academic excellence has attracted generations of top undergraduate and graduate students. The extensive and active alumni/ae network has provided material and spiritual support for KSP. In particular, I was shocked when I arrived in Ann Arbor to discover a well-organized drive by local Ann Arbor alumni/ae to establish a chair in Korean Studies. Some of them regularly attend the colloquium series. Some of them kindly facilitate ties with funding agencies in South Korea and the United States. In addition, the International Institute－the umbrella organization of area studies centers －has been singularly supportive of KSP. Its dynamic director, Michael Kennedy, has not only mastered a smattering of conversational Korean but has been energetic in recruiting scholars and funding to the Program. The University－with its unparalleled strength in the social sciences－has been extremely fertile ground to cultivate Korean Studies. The University Library, one of the five largest university libraries in the country, has an excellent Asian Studies collection in general and a rapidly growing Korean Studies collection in particular. I am pleased to note in this regard that the University of Michigan will soon join the National Consortium of Korean Studies Libraries.

The University provides a wonderful array of cultural activities related to Korea. The University Museum has regularly exhibited major works of Korean art. Numerous undergraduate organizations have staged Korean cultural and social activities, including most recently a major production of Korean folk dance and music. Whether one turns to music or theater, Korean presence is well-established at the University of Michigan.

Future Plans
What lies in the near future? A generous grant from the Freeman Foundation has established a post-doc in Korean literature and film. Our plan is to convert the post-doctoral position into a tenure-track position. In the next few years we would like to hire another scholar in the social sciences, such as in Anthropology; another historian, preferably of the premodern period; and another humanist, either in art or music. Finally, the plan is underway to transform KSP into the Center for Korean Studies (CKS). This is a hugely ambitious plan indeed but it is by no means utopian. There are at least two potential named chairs forthcoming in Korean Studies, and there is a great deal of support among the faculty and administration at the University of Michigan to make KSP/CKS into the premier center of Korean Studies in North America.