Skip to content

Harvard Summer Program in Seoul, Korea

Related Link


Contact

Korean culture and language study in the South Korean capital

Faculty: David McCann and Korean language faculty
(8 credits: UN, GR) Limited enrollment

Dates: June 23–August 1, 2008
Application deadline: March 3
Cost: $5,500

Seoul provides a stunning venue for exploring distinctive features of Korean culture, present and past. The South Korean capital is a thoroughly modern metropolis layered with centuries of history. With a population of more than 10 million in the city and twice that in the greater metropolitan area, Seoul is the country’s political, cultural, and economic center, as well as a hub for international business. Often referred to as the “Miracle on the Han River,” it has played a key role in South Korea’s economic development. In this program, offered at a major university in Seoul, students examine Korea’s contemporary place in the world as well as its past through courses on Korean language and culture.

Course of Study

Students take KORE S-115 and one Korean language course.

KORE S-115 Study Abroad in Korea: The Korea Wave (32258)
David McCann
In this course we study the Korea Wave: the various ways in which contemporary Korea has made its cultural presence felt in twenty-first-century Asia and the world. The first section of the course focuses on a compilation of articles on the Korea Wave published in the New York Times in 2006. We consider whether the wave is an entirely new phenomenon or something that draws from existing, perhaps historical, features of Korean culture. In part two, we examine Korean literary works from the twentieth century, prose as well as poetry, to explore possible near-term antecedents to the wave: Does twentieth-century Korean literature show signs of a response to outside forces such as the Japanese colonial occupation (1910–1945) or the cold war standoff between Russia and the United States? Was it an indigenous formulation? What were its contents, and how were they chosen and held together? Part three of the course turns back still once more, to “historical,” traditional Korea, its history, art, and literature. Historical writings in particular can be seen as early examples of a case-method approach to the challenges, threats, and opportunities that Korea faced in the past, but we also study older historical formations by examining archaeological sites and methods. We learn about and try our hands at compositions in the sijo form, Korea’s best known vernacular verse form. The final unit of the course comprises a sequence of updated case studies in twenty-first-century Korean culture and history, a return to the sorts of questions about newness and origins that the course started with.

Prerequisites: none

KORE S-Ba Study Abroad in Korea: Elementary Korean (32194)
Sang-suk Oh and Korean language faculty

Korean S-Ba is designed for students who have no prior knowledge of Korean. The objective of the course is to equip students with communicative skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing at a basic level. Students learn how to express simple ideas such as identities, locations, time, daily activities, weekend plan, desires, as well as how to combine simple ideas in a variety of ways. Students become familiar with various aspects of Korean culture, history, and daily life.

Prerequisites: none

KORE S-120a Study Abroad in Korea: Intermediate Korean (32195)
Sang-suk Oh and Korean language faculty
Korean S-120a is the intermediate course, designed for students who have already taken Elementary Korean (Ba and Bb) or students who have an equivalent proficiency level. This course aims to increase students' ability to communicate in Korean in a wide range of daily life situations with an equal focus on expanding students' knowledge of the fundamental grammar of Korean. Students are introduced to reading materials of increasing complexity on a variety of topics in modern Korean society and culture.

Prerequisites: elementary Korean

KORE S-140a Study Abroad in Korea: Advanced Korean (32196)
Sang-suk Oh and Korean language faculty
Korean S-140a is designed to provide students with greater reading skills and socio-cultural knowledge of Korean beyond the high-intermediate level. Students develop skills in reading authentic materials from contemporary Korean media and fiction, and aural comprehension of contemporary television documentaries, news, and drama with decreased reliance on pedagogical aids. It also aims to lead students to enhance speaking and writing skills to discuss various issues of modern Korean society and culture.

Prerequisites: intermediate Korean

Course Credit

For Harvard College students, this program counts as two half-year courses (4 credits each) of degree credit. KORE S-Ba, S-120a, and S-140a may provide credit toward the foreign language citation; students interested in this option should confer with Sang-suk Oh.

Transfer credit. Harvard Summer School courses and credits are accepted toward degrees at most colleges and universities. Since degree requirements vary among schools, students are advised to obtain transfer credit approval from their home institutions before registering for Harvard Summer School courses.

Faculty

David R. McCann, Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature, Harvard University

Sang-suk Oh, Senior Preceptor in Korean and Director, Korean Language Program, Harvard University

Korean language faculty to be announced.

Application

Students must be at least 18 years old to apply. The application materials, outlined below, are due March 3:

Applications should be addressed as follows:

Nicole García
Office of International Programs
University Hall, Ground Floor South
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

Students are notified of admission decisions by mid-March.

Cost

The cost of the program is $5,500, plus a nonrefundable $50 application fee. In addition, students are responsible for a health insurance fee (approximately $150; waived if students have US insurance that provides coverage outside the United States) and for transportation to and from Seoul. The program fee covers the following:

Payment Deadlines

For admitted students, a nonrefundable deposit of $550 must be received by April 15 to secure a place in the program. Payment in full is due by May 15. A $100 late fee will be charged for payments received after this date.

Funding

Harvard College students are eligible for scholarships through the Harvard Office for International Programs (OIP). Students may consult the OIP website’s money page or contact the OIP for details. To apply for a study abroad scholarship through OIP, you will need to provide information about the program’s budget. Download* the program budget.

The Harvard College Financial Aid Office summer study webpage also provides information about assistance.

Other Harvard students may be eligible for financial assistance through their Harvard financial aid offices. Students enrolled at other institutions should consult their respective financial aid offices.

Accommodations

Students stay in coed dormitories at Ewha University in Seoul. All rooms are doubles and include breakfast.

Additional Information

Contact Susan Laurence, korea@fas.harvard.edu; (617) 384-7388; fax (617) 496-1144.

Students with disabilities should contact the disability services coordinator as soon as possible: (617) 495-0977, (617) 495-9419 (TTY), or disabilities@dcemail.harvard.edu. Request-for-accommodation forms and supporting diagnostic documentation must be submitted by April 25. More information about disability services, including request forms and guidelines for documentation, will be online by early February 2008.

Students applying for admission to Harvard’s study abroad programs should understand that although the University provides reasonable assistance and support to facilitate the participation of qualified students in its programs (including students with disabilities and health impairments), some of our programs are located in parts of the world where accommodations may not be readily available. Students are encouraged to be forthcoming with the disability services coordinator about any specific needs and functional limitations so that the Summer School can collaborate with those students in a way that fosters their safe participation and allows them to fully appreciate any barriers that they may face, depending on the location and rigors of the particular program.

Harvard Summer School is aware of the risks associated with international travel. Should the US Department of State issue a travel warning for any of the countries in which a study abroad program is planned, the program in that country may be canceled.

* Adobe's free Acrobat Reader is required to view or print PDF forms.