Seoul National University

This course reviews the modern history and examines key contemporary social issues of East Asian societies, namely China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

This course fosters students' understanding of the fast-emerging trans-national English-speaking culture by exploring such socio-linguistic themes as language and gender, language and race as well as cultural diversity. It provides students with skills needed to make them into international citizens and leaders in today's global society. This course introduces how English has become a global language, what changes and variations English has come through, and what issues such changes have generated. The English language is playing a pivotal role as an important tool to communicate in today’s globalized world. As it spreads out throughout the world, linguistic changes have appeared in different varieties of English and the new varieties are received differently in different parts of the world. Students learn about linguistic descriptions of the new varieties of English, attitudes towards New Englishes, and issues related to learning and teaching of the English language. In addition, students take a peek at what
is happening to languages whose speakers are decreasing in numbers (as opposed to English whose number of speakers is increasing).

This course provides an overview of the history and methodology of comparative education with a focus on understanding the role of education in supporting development and/or peace in countries and communities around the world. Country case studies or cross-cultural comparative studies in international development contexts and/or in crisis and conflict-affected contexts are examined. The ways that education may be used to undermine development and peace will also be addressed.

In this age of globalization and the Korean wave, as elements of Korean culture such as K-pop, television dramas, and film spread throughout the world, Korean literature is also gaining in popularity abroad. Thus it is important to examine how Korean literature has been expressed, interpreted, and understood outside Korea. In this context, this class examines works of Korean literature translated into English and how they are understood and interpreted in English-speaking countries, covering everything from classic to contemporary literature. In this way, students gain a deeper understanding of Korean literature from a new perspective and thus be better equipped to contribute to the globalization of Korean literature in the future.

This class studies how Korean literature is expressed, interpreted, and understood outside Korea, primarily through English-language translations of Korean literature. The survey spans from classical to contemporary literature, including both prose and poetry; naturally, it is not be exhaustive, but provides a representative sampling of popular works. Students gain a better understanding of Korean literature in a global context and be better equipped to contribute to its continuing globalization. The class is conducted in English, but students with at least a basic knowledge of Korean and ability to read Korean texts benefit most from the class.

This course introduces life processes at the molecular level, which is the basic concept of chemical biology. This course covers various topics related to the structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids as the storage molecules of genetic information, the functions of biopolymers, the dynamic nature of cell membranes, and generation of biological energy. This course provides the foundation for students to learn more advanced subjects such as neuroscience, gene therapy, development of new crops, drug discovery, and protein engineering.

This course introduces students to the basic concepts, technical analyses, and theories of Film as an art form. Students explore topics such as mise-en-scène; cinematography; framing; editing; narrative; genre, and author, as well as a survey of critical perspectives on film. Students are required to do the assigned reading and view assigned films as noted on the course syllabus prior to each class meeting.