Harvard Summer Program in Seoul, Korea
Korean culture and language study in the South Korean capital
Faculty: Young Shik David Chung, Haden Guest, and Sang-suk Oh
This program, offered at a major university in Seoul, examines Korea’s contemporary and historical place in the world through the lenses of literature, cinema, and cultural history, combining the critical study of seminal films and literary texts with practical training in documentary filmmaking.
Students will create films engaging and expanding the larger themes explored in class screenings, readings, and during a series of visits to major cultural and historic sites across Korea. This course of study will be balanced with multitrack instruction in Korean language.
No prior knowledge of Korean is needed to participate.
Course of study
KORE S-120a Study Abroad in Korea: Intermediate Korean (32195)
Sang-suk Oh
KORE S-120a is designed for students who have already taken elementary Korean (Ba) or students who have an equivalent proficiency level. This course aims to increase their ability to communicate in Korean in a wide range of daily life situations with an equal focus on expanding their 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.
KORE S-130a Study Abroad in Korea: Pre-Advanced Korean (32646)
Sang-suk Oh
KORE S-130a is the first half of the pre-advanced course and is designed for students who have completed Intermediate Korean 120 or have the equivalent proficiency level. Students consolidate previously learned grammatical patterns and vocabulary through written and audio-visual materials on a variety of topics. Emphasis is placed on developing abilities to present opinions and elaborate on ideas through discussion and writing. Chinese characters are introduced in this course.
KORE S-140a Study Abroad in Korea: Advanced Korean (32196)
Sang-suk Oh
KORE S-140a is designed to provide students with greater reading skills and socio-cultural knowledge of Korean beyond the high-intermediate level. They 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. The course also aims to enhance their speaking and writing skills to discuss various issues of modern Korean society and culture.
KORE S-140b Study Abroad in Korea: Advanced Korean (33048)
Sang-suk Oh
KORE S-140b is the second half of the fourth-year Korean course and is designed to advance students to greater strengths in reading and writing skills and socio-cultural, economic, and political knowledge of Korean beyond high intermediate level. Students develop skills in reading various authentic materials, and enhance speaking and writing skills to discuss issues of contemporary Korean society and culture.
KORE S-150a Study Abroad in Korea: High-Advanced Korean (32642)
*** KORE S-150a korea (32642) has been CANCELED. ***KORE S-Ba Study Abroad in Korea: Elementary Korean (32194)
Sang-suk Oh
This course 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 plans, and desires; combine simple ideas in a variety of ways; and become familiar with various aspects of Korean culture, history, and daily life.
Prerequisite: none.
VISU S-193 Study Abroad in Korea: Engaging Korean History Through Film (32945)
Haden Guest Young Shik David Chung
This course combines a critical and practical introduction to filmmaking, interweaving the close study of films about history with basic training in the essential stages of film production. In an intensive five weeks, we explore different ways that the cinema can engage major and influential events in Korean history, both by studying and making films that creatively interpret the nation's past. We will explore a range of different theoretical and historical approaches to filmmaking, guided by weekly screenings and close discussion of films, both fiction and documentary, that interpret events with a shaping impact on contemporary Korean society. Practical instruction in digital filmmaking further structures and defines this course through weekly instructional sessions focused on the basics of camera operation, editing, sound, and post-production. Working in teams students produce, as their final and mid-term projects, short films expanding on the notion of the cinema as a tool for creatively engaging with history as a malleable and at times quite eccentric form of storytelling.
Several larger questions inspire the critical and practical objectives of this class. What does cinematic form and narrative uniquely bring to the exploration of history? How is our understanding of history different when seen through the lens of the cinema, whether as a film viewer or filmmaker? How does Korea's especially turbulent history lend itself to cinema? And how has film traditionally represented and explored Korean history? At the center of the class are guided class excursions to key sites in Seoul and also to historically significant regions of South Korea, journeys of discovery where students' newly learned filmmaking skills are immediately tested. Throughout the class visits by historians, filmmakers and artists versed in traditional Korean arts provide unique encounters with different authoritative and authentic voices on Korean history as an interpretative field.
Course credit
See Study Abroad Credit Information.
Faculty
Application
The application period is now closed.
Students must be at least 18 years old, have completed at least one year of college or be a first-year student, and be in good academic standing to apply.
The application materials, outlined below, are due February 6, 2013:
- A completed online application that includes:
- A $50 nonrefundable application fee
- A statement of interest in the program, including information on relevant coursework and travel experience abroad (previous travel is not a prerequisite)
- Transcripts (student record accepted for Harvard students
Students will be notified of admission decisions by mid-February.
Cost
There is a nonrefundable $50 application fee. The cost of the program is $7,000 and includes the following:
- Tuition
- Room and some meals
- All scheduled excursions and extracurricular activities
In addition to the program fee, students are responsible for:
- Textbooks
- A health insurance fee (waived if students have US insurance that provides coverage outside the United States)
- Transportation to and from Seoul
- The cost of passports and visas (if the latter is needed)
- Any immunizations
Suggested budget
See a sample budget for estimated expenses.
How to pay and funding options
See Funding and Payment for payment deadlines, deposit amounts, and more information, including funding options for Harvard College students.
Accommodations
Students stay in coed dormitories at a university in Seoul. All rooms are doubles and include breakfast.
Additional information
Contact Catherine Glover, cglover@fas.harvard.edu.
Students with disabilities
Students should contact the disability services coordinator as soon as possible. See Students with Disabilities for more information.