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UTTwentieth Century Korean History

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Fall Semester 2012

TWENTIETH CENTURY KOREAN HISTORY

1130

(EAS 271F)

Professor Andre Schmid

Dept. of East Asian Studies

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Office: Robarts Library #14145

Office hours: Wednesday12-2, or by appointment

UTHistory of Chinese Philosophies ()

Phone and e-mail: 946-5114, andre.schmid@utoronto.ca

Shefieldsoas (2683)

Teaching Assistant: Ms. Tina Lee, (dktina.lee@utoronto.ca)

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This course will deal with such topics as the late nineteenth century order for all men to

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cut their hair, the fate of ordinary people in the Korean War, the rise of the new woman
as part of an urban colonial consumer culture, how historians determine the reasons for

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peasant uprisings, the fluctuating fortunes of fortunetellers, the decision of a student to

volunteer for the Imperial Army and why police became involved in the cleanliness of
households to name just a few. Our goal is to ask how the histories of these events,
peoples and moments have been narrated by historians and to examine the

consequences of those narratives. Over the 24 hours of our lectures, we will examine both
the divergences and similarities of nationalism and colonialism, wondering how these two
phenomena are rooted in the various phenomena that often come to be called modern.
So, too, will we examine the power of colonialism whether the brute force of its
policemen or the cultural ideologies of its Japanese and Korean participants to shape
the experience of the modern in the peninsula and serve as a medium for incorporating
the peninsula more fully into the global capitalist order. We will examine the way the past
is remembered differently (between north and south Korea or within the south) and are
used to recover lost alternatives that just might if only things had been different! have
offered a different historical path. In short, I hope to spend some interesting time with you
reading, writing, and thinking about the types of historical problems that arise when we
think about Korean history between 1894 to the Korean War.

Marking Scheme:
There are no pre-requisites for this course and no prior knowledge of Korea or East Asia
is expected. Your assignments are designed to assess your analytical and writing abilities.

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All evaluation will be in essay form and you will be expected to do substantial amounts of
your own writing for this course. Producing coherent, well thought out, and convincing
writing is the key to this course. There will be no testing of memorization; however,
students will be expected to use historical information to offer evidence for the arguments
they offer in each of their essays. There will be three components to the marking scheme:
two take-home tests and a final exam (to be scheduled by the faculty) in short, you will
be expected to write thoughtful essays about the lectures and readings.
Take-home tests: a single question will be distributed at the end of class and a 6 page,
hard copy answer (12 pt., double space) will be due at the start of the following lecture.
The take-home is in lieu of an in-class test, so one week is plenty of time so long as you
have been doing the reading.
Test #1 distributed October 3, due October 10, value 25%
Test #2 distributed November 14, due November 21, value 35%
Test answers will be graded on the basis of content/coverage, argument/analysis, and
writing. Students must take all tests, unless a doctors note is provided. Late penalty is
one grade per day.
Final exam: a list of one dozen questions covering the semesters material will be
distributed at the final lecture. Three questions from this list will appear on the exam

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