June 19-July 5, 2007
Nineteen participants visited Korea for this, the 19th annual program in the series. Accompanied by program coordinator Yong Jin Choi, the fellowship got underway with a half-day orientation session, including visits (by subway) to the Chonggyechon park and bookstores in downtown Seoul. The following day, the fellows visited the Folk Museum and the Leeum Museum of Art. They were joined at dinner by fellowship participants from Australia and New Zealand.
From June 21 to June 26, the fellows participated in an intensive workshop at Korea University, consisting of a mix of lectures and field trips. The lecture topics included history, culture, language, society, education and the North Korean nuclear crisis. Field trips in the general vicinity of Seoul included visits to the Korea University Museum, Daeil Foreign Language High School, the Insa-dong District, Changdok Palace, the Korean Family Culture Institute, and the Demilitarized Zone. From June 27 to July 1, the group traveled in the southern part of the Korea to visit historical and cultural landmarks. Back in Seoul, they participated in a panel about Korean woman with Mrs. Yeon Sook Lee and a discussion about creating curriculum materials based on their studies in Korea. They also visited Jungrang Middle School in Seoul and had dinner with representatives of Korean National Social Studies Association.
The Korea Society / 2007 Summer Fellowship in Korean Studies / Summary Report
David J. Sheehan / social studies coordinator / Watertown Public Schools (MA)
The 2007 Korea Society Summer Fellowship in Korean Studies has made a lasting positive difference in my school district’s curriculum development program as well as in my professional and personal growth. The summer fellowship gave me and my colleagues not only the opportunity to experience the dynamism of Korean society, past and present, but to understand the crucial role that Korea has played in the movement of ideas across Asia and more recently throughout the world.
From the time of our early morning arrival in Seoul until our farewell banquet seventeen days later, our American delegation followed a carefully designed program that balanced regimen with spontaneity, academics with adventure, and heritage with national expectations. Mrs. Yong Jin Choi, senior director of Korean Studies at the Korea Society in New York, greeted us in Korea and at our first meeting presented a detailed program on the national treasures that we would be visiting, entertained questions that grew out of our assigned readings and general curiosity, and led us via subway through Seoul to begin our tour of the capital city and our quest for curriculum materials.
In welcoming remarks at our opening ceremony at Korea University, our hosts exhorted us to discover Korea and to return home with a greater understanding of the Korean people. The next few weeks of attending lectures, visiting historical sites, and experiencing Korean culture guaranteed that all of us would indeed discover Korea.
The academic presentations at Korea University provided a broad explanation of many aspects of Korean life, such as politics, art, language, history and film. Professor Young Ick Yew’s two-part presentation on Korean history was especially informative and provided a clear framework for appreciating, in the Seoul part of our itinerary, the art collections of the Korea University Art Gallery, the Leeum Museum, and the National Folk Museum. Invaluable gilt-bronze statuary, jewelry from the Three Kingdoms Period, celadon incense burners and vases, and paintings depicting the lives of common people and royalty, dazzled us.
Our visit to the Chong Dong Theatre gave us a marvelous opportunity to learn how to play the Korean drum, to dress in traditional costumes, and to see classic Korean performances in dance and song. A subsequent visit to the Yoo’s Family home introduced us to the beauty of the Korean tea ceremony, the elegance of hanok architecture, the ingenuity of the ondol heating system, as well as the challenging simplicity of the Hangul writing system.
Traveling the short distance from the towers of Seoul to Panmunjom and to the Demilitarized Zone brought into clear perspective the tragic events of the last five decades and the foreseeable challenges in Korea’s future. On our return to Seoul, our visit to Imjingak and the Freedom Bridge underscored the personal loss of every divided Korean family. Yet, within a short time, we returned to Seoul with its dynamic symbols of past glory, such as Changyongung and Kyongbokgung Palaces, and of present confidence, such as Cheonggyecheon Stream, Seoul Tower, and the skyscrapers of Korea’s global corporate influence.
One of the highlights of our time in Seoul was our opportunity to visit and to teach at the Daeil Foreign Language High School, and experience that was surpassed only by subsequent home visits with students’ families. My colleagues and I prepared lessons on numerous topics ranging from American history to group activities comparing cultural differences and similarities. Prior to my home visit, my host family took me to Pukhansan National Park to visit a Buddhist temple and to relax while enjoying the magnificent views of the Han River valley. My host student, Liz, as did all the others, served as interpreter and gracious companion.
Before beginning the second half of our itinerary away from the capital, many of us explored Seoul on our own time, discovering the friendly hospitality of Koreans, the efficiency of the subway system, and the cuisine of bibimbap, pulgogi, doenjangjjigae, and of course, kimchi. We shopped at Tongdaemun Market, enjoyed tea in Insadong, rooted for the Doosan Bears at the baseball park, visited the Korean War Memorial Museum, and enjoyed seeing the treasures of the National Museum of Korea, to name but a few.
Our travels from Seoul to Kongju, Muju, Kyongju and Danyang, opened up a majestic, new perspective on Korea and its people. Beginning with our visit to Hwasong Fortress in Suwon we ventured back into the foundational achievements of Korean culture and identity in the Paekje and Silla Kingdoms. The Kongju National Museum, with relics unearthed from the Tomb of King Muryeong, welcomed us to an unrivaled world heritage collection of treasures. The Haeinsa Temple, the depository for the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks, impressed upon us the Buddhist foundation of Korean society.
It was particularly impressive to see Jikjisimcheyojol, the world’s oldest work using metal type, seventy years before the Gutenberg Bible, at the Chongju Early Printing Museum. This international achievement in permanent record keeping guaranteed invaluable information of early Korean history of the Choson Kingdom.
The cultural importance of the Kyongju historic region is unparalled by international standards. Strolling at Anapji Pond under the stars, visiting Namsam Mountain, and going into Chonmachong, the Heavenly Horse Tomb, were a mere prelude to hiking up into the mountains to see grass-covered tombs first hand. The Kyongju National Museum’s collection of excavated relics provided classic examples of artistic design and offered insight into the Silla Period.
As our week-long excursion continued, we finally reached the long-awaited destinations of Pulguksa Temple and Sokkuram Grotto, two of the finest embodiments of East Asian Buddhist art. The architectural beauty of the temple, containing contrasting styles of pagodas, and the serenity of the Sokkuram Buddha, looking out to the East Sea, was the culmination of our extraordinary week away from Seoul. However before we set off to drive north through the mountainous terrain, we visited the Hahoe Folk Village to observe the ways of traditional Korean life through both mask dance performance and daily residential activities.
Once back in Seoul, Mrs. Choi reconvened our delegation for our last full day of activities. Our guest speaker, Mrs. Yeon-sook Lee, a former member of congress, human rights and grassroots organizer, and women’s rights advocate, made a most engaging presentation on the present status of Korean women as well as the prospects for change in Korean society. Afterwards, we discussed the guidelines for our lesson plans on Korea and shared with each other our ideas of interest, many of which had only recently emerged from our study tour.
As a most fitting conclusion to the summer fellowship experience, Mrs. Choi led a group of us to the Joongrang Middle School in Seoul, where teachers, administrators and students warmly welcomed us. We had a most memorable experience, exchanging gifts, observing and participating in a world geography class, and discussing educational issues with the social studies staff. This opportunity to meet fellow Korean educators was invaluable.
At the closing ceremony at Korea University our hosts exhorted us once again to take our discoveries of Korea back to our students and our communities in the United States. In the coming months each of us will be designing and modifying Korean curriculum projects in our schools and bringing to life for our students the sweeping history of Korea and its evolving role in the decades ahead.
On behalf of the American delegation to the 2007 Summer Fellowship in Korean Studies, thank you to the Korea Society of New York, the Korea Foundation and Korea University for providing this experience.
2007 Summer Fellowship Participants
Maria Avery
8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Long River Middle School
Prospect, CT
Waleen Sue Babcock
Teacher, Dept. Chair
Sentinel High School
Missoula, MT
Sarah L Bothun
Teacher
Spanish Springs High School
Sparks, NV
Margaret Chernosky
Geography Teacher
Bangor High School
Bangor, ME
Lorelei M Clark
World Geography Teacher / Team Leader
Thurgood Marshall High School
Missouri City, TX
Mary Coakley
Class V Teacher
Marymount School
New York, NY
Janet Gould
History & Spanish Teacher
Central High School
Phoenix, AZ
Mary Ellen Lennon
Assistant Professor
Bard High School Early College
New York, NY
David Ko Leong
Teacher
George Washington High School
San Francisco, CA
Cynthia McNulty
Teacher
Oakland Catholic High School
Pittsburg, PA
Michael A Melvin
Social Studies Teacher
Starr’s Mill High School
Fayetteville, GA
Mary Judith NaCarlo
History Teacher
Wall High School
Wall, NJ
Carl Oberholtzer
History Teacher / History Specialist
Fargo Public Schools
Fargo, ND
David J Sheehan
Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator
Watertown High School
Watertown, MA
Steven A Shimmon
Teacher, AP Psychology
Lowell High School
San Francisco, CA
Shawna Payne Stokes
Teacher
Murray High School
Murray, UT
Jaya Subramanian
Social Studies Dept. Chair
Presentation High School
San Jose, CA
Michael Yell
Teacher
Hudson Middle School
Hudson, WI
Matthias Zehner
Teacher
Branham High School
San Jose, CA
