Korean Studies at Columbia

Columbia’s Commitment to Korean Studies

In addition to the courses in EALAC, there are Korea-related courses taught regularly in the departments of political science, anthropology, and economics, and in the law and business schools. In addition to the Center for Korean Research and the Korean Studies program at EALAC, Columbia also houses the only Center for Korean Legal Studies in the United States. For over eighty years, Columbia has fostered Korea-related research and teaching in the United States. The University remains steadfastly committed to the study of Korea as we enter an increasingly globalized world.

Korean Classes

The following Korea-related classes are taught regularly:

  • Approaches to International and Global History
  • Buddhism and Korean Culture
  • Colloquium on Conflict and Culture in Korean History
  • Colloquium on Korean History to 1900
  • Colloquium on Major Texts: East Asia
  • Colloquium on Modern East Asian Texts
  • Colloquium on Modern Korean History
  • Colonial and Postcolonial Korea
  • Culture and Society of Choson Korea
  • Cultures of Colonial Korea
  • History of Korea to 1900
  • History of Modern Korea
  • Introduction to East Asian Civilizations:  Korea
  • Korean Literature and Film
  • Modern Korean Literature in Translation
  • Postcolonial Korean Literature and Criticism
  • Religious Traditions in Korea
  • Seminar on Geopolitics
  • Seminar on Korean Historical Materials
  • Senior Thesis Seminar
  • Women and Gender in Korean History

For more information, please click here.

Korean Language Classes

Elementary Korean & Intermediate Korean each maintain three sections; True beginners (with absolutely no background in Korean language), False beginners (with some background in Korean language), Korean heritage.

Advanced Korean & Fourth-Year Korean offer one section each. Additional individual help is offered to accommodate different linguistic levels and to meet students’ different needs and goals in studying Korea.

Fifth-Year Korean offers readings of advanced modern literary, historical, political and journalistic texts, and a wide range of materials.

Further information on the Korean language program is available here.

For detailed Korean language course listings, please see the Department of East Asian Language and Cultures or the Directory of Classes.

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