I gave a talk tonight at the Fulbright Forum (with one other American historian here for the year) about teaching U.S. history in Korea.

It went reasonably well, though I did get a bit tumbled in my words midway through. I was not reading the talk but had written it out so it would be exactly within the time limits (I have been known to speak at some length when giving free rein) and the combination of looking at the written word and extemporaneous speaking was not actually a good choice.

I focused on using empire to frame American history (as you likely will not be surprised to learn), and on raising focusing on questions of regioalism, globalization, and Americanization. It was useful to lay out the ideas in a clear short talk since they are all vast and easy to follow down the rabbit trail.

One thing I mentioned in the course of my remarks is that I just read that Korea has the highest levels of anti-Americanism in Asia, which is a factoid that surprised and interested me.

Afterwards there was food laid out and the usual interesting conversations among everybody. This event was held over at the US Embassy's Information Resource Center and they served poppy seeds rolls. I don't think they were trying to kill me, but you never know.

I met an anthropologist interested in recording the idiosyncratic clapping at the Seoul markets. Apparently, each seller has their own, goods-specific clap. I've never noticed this but am going to start paying attention.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CHAOS WASHING MACHINES

My apartment comes with a washing machine called, imposingly, a Goldstar Chaos Hi Tech Washing Machine. I thought it was a dryer too but that doesn't seem to be the case. Korean apartments have these alleys between the living areas and the outside wall in which clothes are dried. There are sliding doors between the apartment and the alley, and large windows between the bedrooms and the alley. I thought I wouldn't have to use it but if the washing machine is also a "hi tech" drier I sure can't find the right combination of buttons. Not that I haven't looked. I tried to decipher everything with the help of my dictionary and limited knowledge of the hangul alphabet (which includes only a dim understanding of the actual letter order--still working on that). The word pronounced (I think) "saw" is a simple two letter word. But according to my dictionary, it means, "a cow, a bull, an ox" or "dressing, stuffing," "little, few,
Read more
Image
In case you didn't see that county map indicating increased Republican voting between 2004 and 2008 before they took it off of the NYTimes page, here is an image of it: This is a fascinating document that I think will be the focus of many studies. Explaining increases only in these areas in the entire country could be very instructive. Andrew Sullivan notes dryly: "Ah, yes, Appalachia and Arkansas. Obviously concerned about marginal tax rates for those earning over $250,000 a year, I suppose."
Read more
Image
Americans don't get riled up to protest. Give away billions in taxpayer money to financial fatcats with no accountability--no worries. Refuse to punish war criminal torturers--no problem. The battle cry is...moo. Koreans, on the other hand, live in a vibrant democracy and their political action is a bit more direct. Here is a striking photo of union protesters in Daejeon using sharpened bamboo spears to attack riot police. (an article about the current state of rioting in Korea, quoting a Sogang professor, is here )
Read more