CEFIA News

AKS’s Center for International Affairs held the ‘2019 The Academy of Korean Studies & Russian Academy of Education Textbook Seminar (AKS-RAE Textbook Seminar)’ over four days from November 18 (Monday) – November 21 (Thursday), 2019. The seminar was attended by the Director of RAE’s Psychological Institute and a leading researcher from the Russian Research Institute of Education.

At this seminar, the two researchers shared their opinions on changes in each country’s education system and psychological education treatment systems in the information age. Korean participants included researchers from AKS’s Division of Understanding Korea Project. In addition to expanding mutual understanding, these discussions about the changes in each country’s education systems also provided an opportunity to discuss ways to broaden the academic cooperation between the two countries.

Particular attention was paid to Korea’s education policies, curriculum, textbook development, and education advancement in the information age. The researchers also discussed the future of Korean education and ways to increase educational relations between Korea and Russia. While discussing each country’s education system and psychological service systems used in education, they discussed the future of psychotherapeutic services in education.

The visitors experienced Korea’s traditional culture and historical sites by touring palaces, Insa-dong, and Myeong-dong. They made rubbings at the “Story of King Sejong” near Gwanghwamun and visited the “Rubbings of the Steles and Tomb Tablets of the Joseon Dynasty” special exhibit at AKS’s Jangseogak. These experiences were opportunities for the visitors to learn indirectly about Korea’s cultural excellence and the efforts to preserve that cultural heritage.

The officials from RAE actively participated in each part of the seminar, and they praised Korea’s culture and art, economy, and society. The participants observed the educational aspects of each country, and the Russian visitors expressed thanks for the various cultural experiences. They discussed specific ways to maintain and expand educational cooperation between Korea and Russia, including textbook development.

The 81st Societas Koreana Lecture Meeting was held in the Press Club at Korea Press Foundation at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, November 20, 2019. Professor John Delury (Yonsei University) presented a lecture titled “The Indo-Pacific Strategy and Korean Peace Process: Historical Reflections and Future Prospects.” Around 100 foreign opinion leaders in Korea (diplomats and researchers) attended the lecture.

Professor Delury received a PhD in history from Yale University in 2007 and is currently assistant professor at Yonsei University. In this lecture, he explained what the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy means for future priorities of the Korean government. In other words, what it means for the prospect of peace with North Korea. In particular, he described the possible impact the new US strategies might have on Korea based on historical evidence and the current state of the US government. Participants at the lecture were able to consider and discuss the historic and diplomatic implications of the peacekeeping strategies between North and South Korea.

The Division of the Understanding Korea Project of the Academy of Korean Studies recently took part in activities aimed at improving the Korea-related content of school textbooks during a visit to the United States from November 20 (Wed.) to November 26 (Tue.), 2019. As a part of these activities, we participated in the U. S. National Council for the Social Studies' 99th Annual Conference and Exhibition held in Austin, Texas, from November 22 (Fri.) to November 24 (Sun.). The Division of the Understanding Korea Project has attended the conference each year since 2015 (New Orleans in 2015, Washington D.C. in 2016, San Francisco in 2017).

Through participation in this conference, we promoted the Understanding Korea Project and sought to supplement, newly include, and improve the Korea-related content in American textbooks by directly interacting with social studies teachers and officials of major publishers through the personal network we have built up over the years.

The Division of the Understanding Korea Project also held the "Fellowship for Textbook Specialists of America" program by inviting textbook authors and teachers based on the network established through its participation in the conferences from 2015 to 2017. Following on from 2017, this year we prepared a session on Korea with American teachers who participated in the program.

In 2017, the theme of the presentation was "Korea in the Context of 21st Century Global History," which outlined Korea in the context of world history. In 2019, under the more in-depth theme of "Documents in Korean History Since 1200," we suggested specific methods for teaching Korea-related lessons to the teachers and discussed them together. About thirty American middle and high school social studies teachers participated in the presentation, freely discussing teaching methods and materials related to Korea.

Our participation in the NCSS Annual Conference and presentation on Korea allowed us to share diverse information with local social studies educators and actively share our opinions on how to teach Korean-related content in world and American history classes. In particular, this conference raised interest in expanding Korean-related descriptions in American textbooks through direct interviews with the authors of world history textbooks in the U. S. and gave us an opportunity to discuss the inclusion of new Korea-related content in future textbook revisions.

As well as participating in the conference and presentation, on November 21 (Thu), we visited Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a major textbook publisher in the U.S., to gather information on the publishing process of American textbooks as well as the revision and review processes, and also discussed plans for future cooperation. Furthermore, we visited Austin Public High School, where we experienced an actual history class and shared diverse opinions about teaching methods with the social studies teachers on site.

As a result of these activities in the U.S., we expect that the Korea-related content of American textbooks will be improved and supplemented with new material, and that Korea will be introduced in more accurate and diverse topics in the field of education.

The 165th Colloquium on Korean Studies Abroad was held in the small conference room on the 2nd floor of AKS’s Culture Center at 10:30 am on Wednesday, November 27, 2019. This colloquium was an opportunity for a recipient of AKS’s 2019 fellowship to present her research conducted in Korea. Professor Ji-Hyun Ahn (University of Washington Tacoma) presented her research on Korean abhorrence in Taiwan and Japan.

Professor Ji-Hyun Ahn analyzed her research on Korean abhorrence in Taiwan and Japan and discussed several examples and points of view. She presented and discussed materials from each country that show cultural and societal anti-Korean views. Many interested researchers and students attended the event.