Third-year Classes
I currently offer two classes at the third-year level. Both are half-courses. I hope to design two others as well. As with all 3000 level history courses, the official prerequisite is a 2200 level history course or by permission. I note, however, that I am overwhelmingly likely to give special permission to students in the following categories:
Medieval Studies students
Asian Studies students and Pacific Rim Studies students at Huron
Modern Languages students with a background in East Asian languages
Students who have taken my class “Economic History of Early Modern East Asia,” in the Economics Department (both times offered as a special topic)
Students who have done well in one of my 2100 courses.
More generally, students with a good foundation in the humanities and social sciences and/or a knowledge of one or more East Asian languages are likely to be accepted.
My only concern is that students will be able to succeed in the class. I do not want to set students up for an impossible task. Students with a strong interest in Korean history (even if they do not fit in one the categories described above) should feel free to send me an e-mail of enquiry, stating why you believe yourself to have the relevant background, I will decide on a case-by-case basis.
The courses that I am currently offering are:
1. Late Medieval Korea (History 3621 F/G): This course explores the history of Korea from the tenth to sixteenth centuries, during a period of transformative change in northeast Asia. More specifically, we will discuss the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) and the early Choson (1392-1592), stopping just before the Imjin War (1592-1598).
Click the link for a sample syllabus.
2. Early Modern Korea (History 3620 F/G): This course explores the dynamics of culture, politics, religion, belief and social change in Korea during the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. We will attempt to understand diverse aspects of Korean society under the Chosŏn dynasty, while considering the broader international context.
Click the link for a sample syllabus.