The Asia Pacific Research Center of the Stanford Institute for International Studies at Stanford University is seeking one or two research fellow candidates in Korean Studies for the 2005-2006 academic year.

All fellows are expected to be in residence during the duration of the fellowship and participate in various activities of the rapidly expanding Korean Studies Program at Stanford. We are particularly interested in candidates who can collaborate on various projects of the Program, including social activism and political elite formation, historical injustice and reconciliation, Asian regionalism, US-Korean relations, North Korea, etc.

The award carries a twelve month stipend of $40,000-45,000, commensurate with experience, with benefits and research fund. Applicants should receive a doctoral degree by August 31, 2005.

To apply, please send C.V., two writing samples, and two letters of reference to

Professor Gi-Wook Shin

Asia Pacific Research Center

Encina Hall, Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-6055

The application deadline is by March 10, 2005.

The search committee will review the applications and conduct interviews at the upcoming meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Chicago. For more information, contact Jasmin Ha.

The Korean Studies Program at the Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) in the Stanford Institute for International Studies announces workshop fellowships for June 27-July 1, 2005. Financial support for these fellowships has been provided by a generous grant from the Korea Research Foundation and the Pantech Co., Ltd. and Curitel Communications Inc.(Pantech Group).

The workshop, co-chaired by Michael Robinson (Indiana University) and Gi-Wook Shin (Stanford University), seeks to invite five fellows of any discipline currently engaged in research related to the theme of Culture Wars in Korea (see description below), both historical and contemporary, to explore this subject in an intensive week of discussions and collaborative critique of each others' work. Preference will be given to junior scholars (recent Ph. D and ABD). Along with application, each candidate must submit a draft paper on the related issues and will be expected to spend the week of June 27 to July 1 at Stanford for this intensive workshop. There will be a list of core readings to help unify our discussions. After the workshop, all participants are expected to submit revised papers that will be considered for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Korean Studies in 2006. Each fellow will be provided airfare, accommodation, and $1,000.

Culture Wars in Korea: Globalized Mass Culture, State Control, and Conservative Reaction

This seminar will focus on the genesis and evolution of globalized mass culture in Korea. Of particular interest will be the conflict engendered in Korea as state authority and conservative elites attempted to control hybrid cultural forms linked to global flows of mass culture. From the beginning, the emergence of capitalist mass culture in Korea has provoked a variety of conservative responses: colonial censorship and repression, cultural nationalists opposing the "debasement" of traditional cultural forms, post-liberation attempts to control and mediate cultural formations, state censorship of popular cinema, song, and pulp fiction, formal blockade of Japanese popular cultural imports, Minjung activist debates over resisting urban mass culture in favor of agrarian expressions of Koreanness, etc. The motivations for such actions stemmed from the perception of the state, conservatives, and even nationalist ideologues that Korean traditional identity was being effaced by the onslaught of global mass culture. Ironically, in the last decade the Korean entertainment industry has had considerable success exporting its films, rock groups, and television series in East Asia. Some critics attribute this success to a unique Korean cultural sensibility embedded in such cultural exports. This brings the debate about mass culture full circle-from distrust and loathing of the new mass culture to the thought that it might actually embody Korean identity itself.

Submission Deadline

Applicants must submit a CV, one letter of recommendation, and a draft paper by March 1, 2005. Only complete applications will be considered.

Applications should be sent to:

Dr. Hong Kal

Korean Studies Program

Encina Hall, Room E301

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-6055

Phone: 650-725-4206

Fax: 650-725-2592

Email: hongkal@stanford.edu

Dear members of the Korean Studies community,

I trust that all of you have had a great summer and are now ready for the beginning of a new academic year. I welcome all of you back to campus and to another exciting year for the Korean Studies Program (KSP) at Stanford University.

First of all, I welcome the new members to our program this year. Philip Yun and John Feffer are our inaugural Pantech Fellows and will conduct research related to Korea, both North and South. Both Philip and John have distinguished careers and will be great assets to all of us at KSP. Philip has held high-level positions at the State Department and worked closely with former Secretary of Defense, Dr. William Perry, in addition to practicing law in both Korea and the U.S. John is an accomplished writer and editor, and his most recent publication is North Korea/South Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of Crisis. I would also like to welcome Jasmin Ha, who will serve as our new Program Coordinator and assistant to me. She worked previously at The Korea Society in New York City and brings to us both her experience and vision for Korean studies at Stanford. Soyoung Kwon, a North Korean expert, will also be staying at APARC as a Shorenstein Fellow for the coming year.

Hong Kal and Chiho Sawada, post-doctoral research fellows, will remain with us for another year. Hong has accepted a tenure-track assistant professorship at York University, but will not start her appointment until the 2005-06 year. Rakhi Patel, our student assistant, will continue to work part-time to assist Jasmin and myself.

We will resume our popular luncheon seminars on October 15 with a presentation by Eric Larson of the Rand Corporation on his project on South Korean attitudes towards the United States. There will also be numerous other exciting events and programs on Korea-related issues throughout the coming year. Please visit our website for more detailed and continuously updated information.

KSP is also now home to the Journal of Korean Studies for which Chiho and I serve as associate editor and co-editor, respectively, of the journal. In addition, we have been engaged in a number of exciting projects. I have just finished my overdue book on Korean ethnic nationalism and am currently working with Kyu Sup Hahn, a doctoral student in Communications, on a project on U.S. media coverage of Korea and South Korean media coverage of the U.S. from 1992-2004. We will also continue on-going projects such as "Globalization in Korea" and "Historical Injustice, Reconciliation, and Cooperation." I appreciate the assistance of the many students and researchers who have been working with me on these projects over the years.

This year we will do an international search to fill the William Perry Chair in contemporary Korea. This is an extremely important appointment for the Korean Studies Program at Stanford, and you will have the opportunity to meet candidates throughout the year.

Thanks again for your continued support of the Korean Studies Program at Stanford. I look forward to seeing you at the various KSP events and programs throughout the year.

Cordially,

Gi-Wook Shin,

Director