Korea University

This course provides an overview of contemporary popular culture in Korea, with a focus on the media’s role in expressing and shaping it. Students will learn theoretical concepts to analyze Korean popular culture from an academic perspective, covering topics such as gender, collective memory, music, Korean wave, film, broadcasting and more. The course includes group research projects and class discussions. 

This course examines the intersection of fashion, media, and cultural history from the early 20th century to the present day. This course explores the evolution of fashion within both Western and Korean fashion history in the twentieth century. Students will explore how ideals have changed over the decades and how various cultural and historical contexts have been differently addressed in various fashion styles. Students will also explore the way ideals have been portrayed through a variety of media such as fashion dolls, fashion illustrations, magazines, advertisements, photography, television shows, films, exhibitions, fashion collections, and more. 

This course explores the international relations of the East Asian countries of China, Japan, and Korea and provides students with critical perspectives on various issues related to international relations in East Asia. This course examines the question of how East Asian countries have coped with the West (Western values, power, economy, etc.,) since the European expansion in the nineteenth century that broke apart the China-centered East Asian world order. 

Topics include national security, foreign policy, regional and global governance, civilizational/modernity politics, and power transition.   

This course examines the idea of family as a social institution that is both historically and culturally situated and investigates how the family unit both shapes and is shaped by transformations in the economy, the state, and other social institutions, as well as the systemic forces of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, nationalism, and other structural factors.  

The course critically evaluates theoretical frameworks and current research on family dynamics in the West and examines the challenges encountered by contemporary families in Korea. Moreover, it facilitates reflection on the underlying structural factors contributing to and potential resolutions for other social problems unique in the Korean context. 

Some topics covered in the course will include: how the nuclear family came to be treated as natural; how the concept of family has historically evolved; how contemporary sexuality and dating has transformed family formations; the inequality of race, gender, and class in family forms; the emergence of diverse families and changes in the roles of family members; an increase in small households and single-person households; the rise in the age at first marriage and the decline in birth rates; the dynamics of parent-child relationships, parenting practices, household labor, and the distribution of household chores; population aging; transnational and immigrant families; and other related topics. 

This course is an introduction to the history of Western classical music by its genre and through study and analysis of the style and structures of this music, as well as its relationships within historical contexts.  

Major works of classical music will be classified by genre, and theoretical approaches and academic thinking about classical music will be presented by listening to the works of famous composers.  

This course introduces key concepts and steps of entrepreneurship. Students examine the problem-solving process of successful entrepreneurs through various entrepreneurship theories and learn strategy-making methods to solve various problems faced both in business and daily life. This course is intended for not only prospective entrepreneurs who are planning to start a business, but also prospective entrepreneurship ecosystem workers who want to be members of the entrepreneurship ecosystem. 

Topics include business models, platform business, practical finance for entrepreneurs, venture firm registration and benefits, career aptitude, best practices of corporate formation, business valuation and negotiation, attracting investment, and patent strategy and IPO. Students will collaborate on a startup idea and create a business plan, presenting a team project at the end of the course.

This course provides instruction and practical experience in conducting and analyzing experiments and in experimental techniques that are commonly applied across various subjects.  

Topics include preparation of microbial media; cultivation of bacteria; water quality; microscopic examination; biochemical characterization; microbiome analyses; genomic DNA extraction & PCR; gel electrophoresis & PCR purification & Sanger sequencing; DNA fingerprinting; Bioinformatic analysis. 

This course is designed for beginner-level foreign exchange students and undergraduate students to acquire Korean reading skills. In this course, based on learning beginner-level vocabulary and grammar, students will read and understand various genres of texts that cover everyday topics and familiar social topics. 

This course covers historical and thematic aspects of popular culture studies by raising some essential questions via a deep dive into a significant popular culture sphere: popular film.  

This is a “one-film-course" centering uponThe Greatest Showman, 2017, through which ten important themes of popular culture studies are critically examined: Being popular (History); Showman (Producer); Freak (Genre;) Fake (Authenticity); Dream (Consumption); Material (Infrastructure); Conflict (Humans); Class (Relations); Diversity (Community); and Happiness (Future). 

This course explores the multidimensional definitions and meanings of globalization by examining various interconnections, from traditional cultures to modern ones, cultural diversity to homogenization of culture, from migration and immigration to ethnic diversity, and from population growths to urbanization and climate change. 

Students will examine how globalization impacts the culture, family, aging, international migration, popular culture, population, urbanization, environment, and economic development in societies all around the world, paying special attention to how these issues affect Korean culture and society, and will explore possible solutions to these issues.