November 7, 2006

Over 35 educators from the greater New York area spent Election Day 2006 at The Korea Society to learn about Korean literature, history, and how to integrate Korean Studies into their school's curriculum. The conference got underway with two presentations by Mark Peterson, professor of Korean Studies at Brigham Young University: "Confucian Culture and Society in Korea" and "Women's Literature in Traditional Korea." Peterson gave an overview of the major tenets of Confucianism—benevolence, filial piety, loyalty, fidelity—as well as the major forms of Korean literature-hyangga, kasa, hansi and, in particular, the sijo. The Korean sijo, Peterson argued, is more complicated than its better known Japanese cousin, the haiku. In classrooms, it would be an ideal complement to haiku lessons; and it has the potential to become the next form of East Asian poetry widely recognized by Americans. After a traditional Korean lunch, the afternoon session got underway with a presentation by Daniel Levine. Levine, a consultant on the development of The Korea Society's online educational materials, outlined the resources available free to educators on the recently launched educational Web site www.koreak12.org. Mary Connor, president of the Korea Academy for Educators, tied together the day's lecture points with her presentation, "Bringing Korea into the Curriculum: World History, Asian Studies and U.S. History." Connor introduced teaching materials and methods that can make Korean Studies lessons inspiring to students.