Times: T/TH, 6:00 - 7:15 PM CT, 7:00 -8:15pm PM ET
Instructor: John Finch (finchjd@indiana.edu)
Hosting University: Indiana University
Description: This course examines the ever-changing social phenomena of dating, sex, and marriage in contemporary South Korean society. The turbulent recent history of Korea has produced a society that is engaged with a variety of local and global social forces in complex and contradictory ways. The sweeping social changes in South Korean society have redefined and forced its people to re-examine itself, and its relation to such basic ideas as gender, sexuality, class, family and tradition. This course pays special attention to the process of compressed modernization that South Korea experienced in recent decades and to its resultant social changes that came into being during this process. The behavior of Koreans' dating, sex, and marriage have been the focal site where these changes have been reflected most saliently. The two main questions that are explored throughout the course are: What kind of modern society is South Korea becoming as a consequence of all these rapid economic and social changes? How do Koreans adjust and negotiate these changes in the realm of dating, sex, and marriage?
Participating Universities: Penn State University & Purdue University
