No Korean concentration?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I know that the 3 Asian languages are all inside of the larger East Asian Studies concentration, but I read that there are only concentrations (within the larger East Asian Studies concentration) for Chinese and Japanese, not Korean. Is this true? Would I not be able to concentrate in Korean? Also, are there truly only 2 Korean professors/lecturers or is the website outdated? Is the scarcity of Korean professors good (get to know them well) or bad (not as many courses?)?</p>

<p>Also, I noticed that only Intermediate Korean is offered? Really?</p>

2

<p>I’m not particularly familiar with East Asian, but from what I understand, recent revisions of the concentration mean there are no longer separate tracks within the East Asian concentration anymore. You can certainly use Korean to fill the language portion of the East Asian concentration, but I believe you will need to do a study abroad to get the final levels of instruction in Korean.</p>

<p>For details about the newly revised concentration:
[Brown</a> University Department of East Asian Studies](<a href=“East Asian Studies | East Asian Studies | Brown University”>East Asian Studies | East Asian Studies | Brown University)

(I’m not a concentrator, but I am taking Japanese 500 currently, so a lot of my classmates are)</p>

3

<p>Brown is a small-ish university. If you want more courses in niche fields, you have to look at bigger universities. Harvard, Columbia, and Penn all have strong Asian and Korean studies departments.</p>

<p>[EALC</a> - Harvard University](<a href=“http://harvardealc.org/home.php]EALC”>http://harvardealc.org/home.php)</p>

<p>[Weatherhead</a> East Asian Institute: About](<a href=“http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/about.html]Weatherhead”>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/about.html)</p>

<p>[Center</a> for East Asian Studies](<a href=“http://www.ceas.sas.upenn.edu/about.shtml]Center”>http://www.ceas.sas.upenn.edu/about.shtml)</p>

<p>Brown is just…smaller
[Brown</a> University Department of East Asian Studies](<a href=“East Asian Studies | East Asian Studies | Brown University”>East Asian Studies | East Asian Studies | Brown University)</p>

<p>You could still go there for undergrad and then go to one of the bigger schools for an MA or PhD</p>

4

<p>There’s two professors now? When I took Korean 300/400 there was only one! (don’t come here if you want to learn Korean).</p>

5

<p>Well, is there Introductory Korean at Brown? Because all I saw was Intermediate Korean…</p>

6

<p>[KREA0100:</a> Korean - Course Details - Mocha](<a href=“mochacourses.com - This website is for sale! - mochacourses Resources and Information.”>Loading...)</p>

7

<p>Ah! So there is Introductory Korean. Thank you. But then, is it still feasible to learn Korean at Brown?</p>

8

<p>You can take Korean classes. I’d assume that means you’d learn Korean about as well as you’d learn Chinese or Japanese (at least until the intermediate level, then I’m not sure what happens), but it isn’t a huge department (as people said, may only have 1 or 2 professors). And the professors may not be the greatest (I’m not sure, as I don’t know anyone taking Korean).</p>

9

<p>

The short answer is no.
In essence you cannot concentrate in Korean, if by “concentrate” you mean compose a major that comprises 10 or 12 courses devoted to Korean subjects exclusively.
But what’s your motivation exactly?
Are you of Korean ancestry and trying to reconnect?
Then apply to schools with Korean majors, on the West Coast for example.
Or you could go to RISD, which is 20 percent Korean enrollment, and learn from tutoring and propinquity.</p>

10

<p>No, I’m not Korean, I’m just fascinated by the Korean language and culture and have been for some time now. It sucks, but this issue has made me decide not to apply ED to Brown now, anyway. I’m still applying RD, though.</p>

11

<p>This is precisely why Brown allows you to do independent study. If you really feel that something isn’t being offered by the curriculum, independent study allows you to do that. If you feel that way about Korean, than I’d recommend that you pursue independent study in Korean at the highest levels. Contact Hye-Sook Wang (she’s the main Korean Language professor, and a native Korean speaker), and see if she or someone else would be willing to work with you in an independent study program to go beyond what Brown has to offer. As long as they believe that you like the language and are really committed to doing what it takes to make independent study work, I’m sure they’d be willing to help. </p>

<p>If that isn’t enough, you can also look at creating your own concentration. This is also something Brown allows, again to fill in gaps in the curriculum. You could create a “Korean Studies” concentration that roped in courses from History, EALC, Political Science, and other departments. I know that sounds tricky, but there are a few people each year who graduate with custom majors, so clearly it’s doable. For your convenience, I’ve included a link about independent study and custom concentrations below, as well as a link to Hye-Sook Wang’s page on the EALC site. I’m not trying to tell you what to do here. Just before you write off studying Korean and Korean topics at Brown, think about whether independent study and/or a custom concentration would work for you. </p>

<p>[Independent</a> Study](<a href=“Independent Study | The College | Brown University”>Independent Study | The College | Brown University)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.brown.edu/Departments/East_Asian_Studies/facultypage.php?id=10214]Hye-Sook”>http://www.brown.edu/Departments/East_Asian_Studies/facultypage.php?id=10214]Hye-Sook</a> Wang</p>